Agenda and minutes

All Members who believe they have a Disclosable Pecuniary or other Pecuniary or non pecuniary Interest in any matter to be considered at the meeting must declare that interest and, having regard to the circumstances described in Section 3 paragraphs 3.25 – 3.27 of the Councillors’ Code of Conduct, leave the meeting while the matter is discussed, save for exercising any right to speak in accordance with Paragraph 3.28 of the Code.

The Chair will ask Members to confirm that they do not have a declarable interest.

All Members making a declaration will be required to complete a Declaration of Interests at Meetings form detailing the nature of their interest.

Councillor Hussain declared that she was Council’s representative on the governing board of the Heatherwood & Wexham Park Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Resolved –  That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th September 2014 be approved as a correct record.

The Board received an update on the recruitment process that had been undertaken for the vacancy for a business representative.  Five applications had been received from a range of businesses across Slough and following a short listing process it had been agreed to offer places to Naveed Ahmed from Goldteam Recruitment and Les O’Gorman from UCB UK, subject to the approval of Council on 25^th November to appoint two business representatives to the Board.

The other three applicants would be offered positions on Priority Delivery Groups.  Members noted the update and welcomed the strong interest from the local business community in the work of the Board.

Resolved –  That Naveed Ahmed from Goldteam Recruitment and Les O’Gorman from UCB UK join the Board as voting members from the 2^nd February 2015 meeting, subject to Council approving the appointment of two business representatives.

The Board considered a report seeking approval for the draft Slough Wellbeing Board Development Plan for 2014/15.  The draft plan set out the key activities for the remainder of the year in order to improve the effectiveness of the Board.  The key actions proposed included:

• A review of the Slough Joint Wellbeing Strategy in 2015 which would include a review of the vision, priorities and workplan for the Board.
• Update the Board’s terms of reference including a ‘Welcome to SWB’ guide and implementation of a SWB newsletter.
• A review of the membership of the Board, including acute sector representation.

The Board discussed a range of issues including the potential to use the review to bring about a more action-orientated approach and to consider wider representation from the health sector, such as the possibility of provider representation and utilising the expertise the community care sector.  After discussion, it was agreed that the review of membership should flow from the revised strategy and priorities to get the right people and expertise engaged in the Board and PDGs.

Resolved –  That the Slough Wellbeing Board Development Plan 2014/15 be agreed.

(Ruth Bagley joined the meeting)

The Board received an update on the progress of the transfer of commissioning responsibilities of the health visiting and Family Nurse Partnership services to Slough Borough Council which would take effect from 1^st October 2015.

Members noted that it was the commissioning responsibility, not service provision, that would transfer and the process was being supported locally by the Berkshire Transition Board and a service specification needed to be in place by April 2015.  The transfer offered an opportunity to improve outcomes for children by better co-ordinating services, information sharing and joint working for early years.  The financial implications were discussed and it was noted that the risks were being closely monitored.

The model of service approved by the Transition Board utilised the national Cowley model which would provide Slough with 37.7 WTE front line health workers.  The relationship between Health Visitors and GPs was raised and it was noted that the opportunities to improve integration would be considered as part of the local specification.  The Board welcomed the good progress that was being made and were reassured that a strong collaborative approach between NHS England and local councils was in place.  A further update would be received by the Board as the transition progressed.

Resolved –

(a)  That the plans for the transfer of Health Visitors and Family Nurse services to Slough Borough Council be noted.

(b)  That the Board receive a further report on progress in due course.

The Board considered a report on the Heatherwood and Wexham Park Operational Resilience and Capacity Planning for 2014/15 which set out the steps being taken to prepare for winter pressures.  The systems reliance approach took into account planned as well as unplanned care at the hospitals and funding had been allocated on a ‘fair-share’ basis rather than competitive bidding as was the case in 2013/14.

The fair-share allocation for Heatherwood and Wexham Park in 2014/15 was £2.1m, a reduction on the £6m received last year, however, the Board were informed that the system was better equipped this year for a number of reasons including additional bed capacity, the completion of building works, relieved pressure arising from the new Bracknell health space and improved communication and flow for discharge.  A clear and transparent process had been adopted to distribute the funding available and a full list of schemes were detailed in section 3 of the report.  Additional funding in excess of £3m had subsequently been secured which would also go through the System Resilience Group process.

Members discussed the impact that the different funding arrangements would have on services available in the hospital this winter and highlighted the need to properly account for both the funding and outcomes.  It was noted that 50% of the funding would be released initially with the remainder being available only when schemes could demonstrate they were successfully achieving their objectives.  The Board were very concerned about the tight tightscales associated with preparing the plan and allocating the funding so close to winter and it was agreed that the Board would support representations to the Department of Health which expressed concerns about the process.

The overall situation that Wexham Park Hospital was in a better position than previous years and had robust plans in place for winter 2014/15 was noted.

Resolved –

(a)  That the update on the Operational Resilience and Capacity Planning 2014/15 at Heatherwood and Wexham Park be noted.

(b)  That the concerns of the Board be expressed in relation to timescales imposed on the planning process for Winter 2014/15.

The Board considered a report setting out proposed changes to governance arrangements following a review to ensure that its sub-committees were set up effectively to support the delivery of the Wellbeing Strategy.  The Slough Wellbeing Board currently had six Priority Delivery Groups (PDG), which were a mixture of statutory and non-statutory partnerships and a review of the Community Cohesion PDG and the Skills, Employment and Enterprise PDGs had been conducted.

The original objectives of the two groups has been achieved and it was recommended to disband both sub-committees with a successor ‘Economic Growth Group’ being formed to ensure the continued delivery of the plan’s competitive workforce, business and infrastructure priorities.  The Chairs of both groups had been consulted and were in agreement with the proposals.  The Board agreed that it was important to ensure the role and remit of its sub-committees were focused on delivering the Wellbeing Strategy and agreed the proposed changes.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Skills, Employment and Enterprise PDG (and its associated task and finish groups) be disbanded (having served their purpose) with immediate effect;

(b)  That the outline structure for proposed successor to this Sub-Committee be approved as set out in Appendix A to the report.

(c)  That the Wellbeing Board’s Terms of Reference be revised to reflect the changes and clarify the roles and responsibilities of the successor group, where appropriate.

(d)  That the Community Cohesion PDG be disbanded (having served its purpose) with immediate effect;

(e)  That the Wellbeing Board’s Terms of Reference be revised to reflect these changes, where appropriate.

The Board received an update on the progress of the placeshaping working group and the actions it had undertaken as part of the ‘shaping my community’ programme to improve wellbeing at a local level.  Activity had been focused on Chalvey and Foxborough with the aim of partners working together with the community to increase take up of relevant services and improve people’s health and wellbeing.

A successful local fete had been held in Chalvey in collaboration with the community which had supported key health and wellbeing outcomes.  A working group had been established in Foxborough and a ‘day of action’ was planned to encourage the development of positive relationships between partners and residents.  The Board welcomed the progress that was being made and noted the planned roll out across other wards following evaluation of the approach in the pilot area.

Resolved –  That the outcomes achieved by the Group and the planned actions be noted.

To note.

Resolved –  That the Future Work Programme be noted.

Resolved –  That the report of Members Attendance be noted.

2^nd February 2015

Resolved –  That the date of the next meeting be confirmed as 2^nd February 2015.