Agenda item

To receive an update on digital inclusion and health inequalities, focusing on health inequalities.

Presenting Officers

-       Sarah D’Souza: (Commissioning at Barnet CCG)

-       Ruth Donaldson: (Director of Commissioning at Barnet CCG)

Sarah D’Souza (Commissioning at Barnet CCG) and Ruth Donaldson (Director of Commissioning at Barnet CCG) introduced the report which provided an update on the work being driven by the Communities Team, set up in place as part of the NCL CCG Borough Directorate. The committee were informed that the team had been developed to focus on inequalities and the delivery of plans to address these issues.

It was explained to the committee that one of the key questions being researched by the team was around the current use of data and whether the right data was being collected and used in the right way to understand the needs of residents. The team was focusing on developing interventions to address the health inequalities, however, to do so effectively, the wider determinants of inequalities needed to be understood. It was explained that understanding the needs of residents and empowering them would enable the right interventions to be put in place.

Officers said that it was important that as part of the work, they were able to demonstrate that local communities and residents had been listened to and their issues taken onboard, to make a difference. Resident empowerment was key to enabling residents to have more control over their lives and care and to avoid individuals reaching crisis. Officers explained that it was not always medical interventions that were required to address health inequalities, sometimes social interventions, employment opportunities or access to digital resources were needed and that through understanding the lived experiences of residents, these interventions could be better embedded into assessments. Officers advised that the team were looking into understanding all the complex elements that contribute to health inequalities.

The Chair enquired as to how the disbanding of the Public Health England and the replacement with the National institute for Health Protection (NIHP) fitted into the integrated care systems. Officers advised that public health would remain a key aspect of the work and that moving forward the team would continue to work closely with local public health departments, as this was integral to the work.

Councillor Tomlinson enquired as to how the Voluntary Community Sector (VCS) would be included in the work, as well as how the homeless would be identified and contacted. Officers explained that the VCS were integral to reaching out to local people, as well as ensuring the groups engaged with, were as diverse as possible. Regarding identifying the homeless, officers advised that they would be working with hostels and street homeless and setting up networks across the programme to find the best way to support them.  Weekly seminars for the homeless would also take place, with assistance from specialist teams and local GP organisations to ensure they were receiving the right vaccines, resources, and care. Councillor Clarke updated the committee that Islington Council had a policy in place which ensured all rough sleepers had access to a bed every night.

Councillor Clarke asked for clarification that work involving young people, particularly with learning difficulties was being investigated. Officers noted that that there were still improvements to be made in terms of working with young people, but that work was ongoing. Officers commented that learning difficulties was on the radar and they would be interested to see further submissions around that.

The Chair questioned the measurement criteria being used for the work and noted that there appeared to be no targets or measured outcomes set. The Chair also enquired as to how the areas identified as the starting point, had been decided on and what engagement had taken place around these decisions. Officers advised that an agreed set of criteria was in place and that this could be circulated to the committee. They also explained that a monthly report was produced which reviewed the criteria and evaluated how overarching and impactful on health equalities they were. Officers explained that strong guidance had been used to establish what interventions were needed and although not all of them would lead to a return on investment within the next year, that should not be used as a reason not to put interventions in place. It was explained that a balance between short term and longer-term interventions was important.

Members thanked the officers for the report and commented that it was an interesting piece of work. Members requested that once the project had been given some time to mature, in around a year, that an update report be brought back to the committee. It was requested that the update report include information on the next cohort of projects and how residents had been engaged with. Members suggested a lived experience case study would be useful, to see how this was being delivered. If possible, a young person living with learning difficulties could be incorporated into this case study, as well as the potential for someone to be invited to attend the meeting. Members further requested that the update report include an outline of the financing aspects of the work and how this linked to ongoing projects to ensure they maintained traction.

RESOLVED that the Committee noted and commented on the contents of the report and the direction of travel of the important work.