Agenda and minutes

None declared.

RESOLVED:-

that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 February be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

None.

In March 2013, the Health Partnership Overview and Scrutiny Committee  agreed to the formation of a task group to tackle violence against women and girls in Brent. The task group report is attached as appendix A.  The findings of the tasks groups review is wide reaching, effects many pubic services and has a direct impact on the lives of women, children and young people.

The Chair drew the Board’s attention to the report submitted by the Overview and Scrutiny Task Group, noting that it was comprehensive, set out clear recommendations for action and in view of recent government initiatives, was particularly timely.

Councillor John (Chair of the Task Group) explained that the report focussed on three harmful practices; Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), Honour Based Violence (HBV) and Forced Marriage (FM). It was recognised that Brent’s ethnically diverse population had religious and cultural ties to areas of the world where these harmful practices were prevalent and that these offences were considerably under reported both nationally and locally. Councillor John advised that she had presented the report to all the relevant bodies of the Council to ensure it attracted the attention and action the subjects needed. She had met with Jo Ohlson (Chief Operating Officer, Brent CCG) to discuss how best to engage the Health services in the implementation of the task group’s recommendations and had also been invited by the Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to speak at a conference of General Practitioners (GPs).  Ethie Kong (Chair, Brent CCG) advised that the Brent CCG was also undertaking work on the education and training agenda for primary care; this would encompass consideration of how best to draw together safeguarding issues, including those raised in the Task Group’s report.

The Board reviewed the recommendations set out in the report and discussed referral routes for victims of the harmful practices. Melanie Smith (Director of Public Health) advised that at present, these were geared towards professionals and consideration would have to be given to how a single point of contact might work in practice and how it would be publicised.  It was noted that this would be explored via the Violence against Women and Girls Strategy.  Ann O’Neil (Brent Health Watch) commented that contract management had a role to play in ensuring that associated groups and providers appropriately covered these issues within their policies and practices. The discussion turned to work with Brent’s schools. Councillor Pavey advised that Councillor John had written an item for the forthcoming school governors’ bulletin and the issues would also be addressed via the school governors conference. Responding to a query, Sara Williams explained that PHSE (Personal, Health, Social and Economic Education) was part of the national curriculum and discussions had been held regarding increasing the health element of this. She further advised that Brent’s network of designated teachers for safeguarding had recently been re-launched.

Andrew Davies (Senior Policy Officer) advised that the Assistant Chief Executive’s department, had been tasked with co-ordinating the implementation of the task group’s recommendations. An action plan would be developed in consultation with colleagues across the council and partner organisations. It was proposed that the Board review this action plan at its meeting scheduled for June 2014.

RESOLVED:

That the action plan, including expected outcomes and timescales, be presented to the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board in June 2014

The Health and Wellbeing Board will be presented with a report on the progress in implementing the recommendations from Shaping a Healthier Future. The report will focus on the plans for Central Middlesex Hospital and the implications for Willesden Centre for Health and Care.

A presentation was delivered by Rob Larkman (Chief Officer, Brent CCG) updating the Board on the implementation of the Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF) Programme in Brent, with a focus on the recent work undertaken with respect to the Central Middlesex Hospital and the implications for Willesden Centre for Health and Care. The meeting was reminded that SaHF was taking forward the reconfiguration of North West London’s hospitals to establish specialist centres of care. The programme was underpinned by an out-of-hospital strategy which aimed to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions by treating patients in primary care settings, thereby allowing hospitals to concentrate on the critically ill or those that required specialist care. In line with this, Brent CCG was implementing ambitious plans to improve primary care and patient access to services. The Board’s attention was drawn to a map detailing how each hospital had been categorised under SaHF. Business cases were currently being developed by the hospitals and these would be reviewed and subsequently submitted to the Treasury to confirm funding.

Rob Larkman outlined the recent developments regarding Central Middlesex Hospital (CMH). It was explained that CMH currently had an annual deficit of £11m and was under utilised. Considerable work had been undertaken to explore options for a long term, clinically viable and financially sustainable model for the site. This work had encompassed discussions with service providers across North West London and a range of stakeholder workshops.  Three options had been considered; allow the hospital to continue as it was; close the hospital; or, add additional services. The additional services identified for CMH were outlined to the Board and it was explained that these involved the relocation and expansion of community rehabilitation beds from Willesden Health Centre. As a consequence, a range of services had also been identified for transfer to the Willesden Centre to ensure the site continued to be fully used. The presentation detailed that the evaluation agreement, made at a North West London wide workshop held in January 2014, had selected two preferred options; full utilisation of both sites, and full utilisation of CMH with partial utilisation and partial disposal of the Willesden site. The preferred option of Brent CCG remained the full utilisation of both sites and therefore, further work would be undertaken to identify other services that could be located at Willesden.

Rob Larkman concluded his presentation by detailing the required next steps and associated timeline. He explained that an outline business case for CMH was in development, with an intended deadline of the end of 2014/15 for completion and approval. It was planned that final services would be in place for 2015 onwards.

In the subsequent discussion it was noted by Anne O’Neill that CMH had always been under utilised and assurances were sought that the current planning process was sufficiently robust and future proof, particularly when considering the potential partial disposal of the Willesden site. In response, Dr Mark Spencer (Brent CCG) advised that the design of CMH had reflected an  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The final version of the Brent Better Care Fund Plan will be presented to the Health and Wellbeing  Board for its consideration. The Board is asked to endorse the Better Care Fund Plan and agree that regular updates on its implementation should be presented to the Board throughout 2014/15. Given the Health and Wellbeing Board’s role in overseeing health and social care integration, this will form an important part of the Board’s work programme in the coming year.

Sara Mansuralli (Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Brent CCG) drew the Board’s attention to the Brent Care Fund Plan attached to the report. The Board was asked to endorse the Plan and agree to receive regular updates on its implementation. The Board had considered the draft Plan at a development session held on 12 March 2014 and changes had subsequently been made to reflect the Board’s suggestions. Sara Mansuralli advised that the Brent Integration Board would be developing a performance dashboard to link into the schemes and performance trajectories set out in the plan and would provide regular updates on the delivery of the Plan and its impact on Brent’s residents.

With reference to the Better Care Fund planning template, Councillor Hirani noted that that the minimum required value of the BCF pooled Budget had been lower in the draft version of the Plan. Sara Mansuralli advised that in the draft Plan it had been set as £19m but it was now known to be £22million and explained that the figure represented the value of the existing services that would be shaped and changed to deliver the Plan.

RESOLVED:

    (i)        that the Brent Better Care Fund Plan be endorsed.

  (ii)        that regular updates on the implementation of the Plan be submitted to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Medication errors reporting

Jo Ohlson (Chief Operating Officer, Brent CCG) advised that the CCG Better Care Fund Planning Template contained reference to agreeing, in conjunction with the relevant Health and Wellbeing Board, a specified increased level of reporting of medication errors from local providers. The Board’s views were therefore being sought on the preferred process for reaching such an agreement. It was explained that there was evidence to suggest that reporting of such errors nationally was below expected levels and it was recognised that it was important to encourage accurate reporting of medication errors to ensure that necessary lessons were learned and improvements in safety made.

RESOLVED:

That Brent CCG hold discussions with providers regarding expected levels of reporting of medication errors and report back to a future meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board.