Agenda item

To receive a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, the Corporate Director of Social Care, Health and Wellbeing and the Director of Public Health.

1.            Mr G K Gibbens gave a verbal update on the following adult social care issues:

17 May Spoke at Live Well Kent Launch Event at Canterbury Christ Church University – this had provided an opportunity to meet with providers and service users. A further report on Live Well Kent would be made to a future meeting of this committee.

19 May Attended Kent Integrated Care Alliance Conference at Ashford International Hotel

25 May Attended South East England Councils and South East Strategic Leader joint Health and Social Care Integration Workshop at King’s College, London – the Leader of the County Council has spoken at this event, which sought to advance the integration of health and social care services. 

Short Breaks Consultation – this had started on 7 June and would run for 12 weeks, and was concerned with accommodation–based short breaks for people with disabilities, particularly at Osbourne Court in Faversham. One aim of the review was to improve the transition from children’s to adult services. An information pack had been issued and presentations made to local focus groups, to seek to shape the services to suit those who relied on them.  Ms Southern assured the committee that there was no plan to reduce services.  There had been a good response so far to the consultation and a further report would be made to this committee in October.   

2.            Mr A Ireland then gave a verbal update on the following issues:

Update on Adults Transformation and the start of Phase 3 – he had visited all NHS Trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to identify issues which would need to be addressed as part of the transformation, to ensure integration of these issues in the NHS’s 5 year plan and to identify opportunities for joint working.

Blackburn Lodge’s recent “Good” CQC Inspection – the home had achieved a good rating, despite recent challenges, and staff were congratulated by Members on their hard work to maintain standards during this time.  

Meeting with Helen Greatorex, new Chief Executive of Kent and MedwayPartnership Trust – Ms Greatorex was committed to working with local authorities and the ongoing relationship between the County Council and NHS Trusts was good. 

Update on CQC Strategy – the ‘Shaping the Future’ strategy document for 2016 to 2021 had set up a new, collaborative, responsive approach. A full briefing on this would be given to the October meeting of this committee.

3.            Mr G K Gibbens gave a verbal update on the following adult public health issues:

Community Pharmacies – a letter from Mr Gibbens and the Cabinet Member for Education and Health Reform, Roger Gough, had been sent to the Minister to seek to secure adequate funding for pharmacies in rural and edge-of-town locations. It had been good to have the recent news that NHS funding would be made available to support the integration of primary care and community pharmacies. Mr Scott-Clark added that pharmacies facing hardship could bid to access this funding via pharmacy access schemes, based on location and local need.  Local Pharmaceutical Committees had expressed concern about the viability of suburban and rural pharmacies.

29 June Spoke at Perinatal Mental Health Conference at Canterbury Christ Church University

29 June Visited Turning Point substance misuse services in Canterbury - it had been encouraging to see the increased confidence that the service was able to give people and to see former users who had benefited from support returning to mentor others. 

4.            Mr A Scott-Clark then gave a verbal update on the following issues:

Community Pharmacy funding – covered above

NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans: Prevention – prevention had previously been a key issue in the NHS 5 year plan, and the County Council Public Health team would support enhanced intervention and seek to promote priorities such as addressing obesity, achieving parity of esteem for mental and physical health and encouraging employers to take workplace health and lifestyle choices such as drinking and smoking seriously. 

Work with the Town and Country Planning Association – the County Council’s Public Health team would work with Public Health England, district councils, local CCGs and Health and Wellbeing Boards  to address the issue of planning health more systematically and effectively into the infrastructure of new developments, in terms of green space and walking and cycling routes.

Healthy New Towns/Ebbsfleet – related to the above, Ebbsfleet had been awarded Health New Towns status, and Public Health would work with Public Health England, the district council, local CCG and the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation to address issues such as building a healthy environment and linking health services to the local transport network. 

Members made the following comments:

a)    news of the Ebbsfleet Healthy New Towns initiative was welcomed, and the importance of supporting and developing existing communities emphasised; and

b)      concern was expressed that the County Council might put resources into services such as those to support people to stop smoking that the public may not then use, for example, preferring familiar high street providers such as Boots. If such services were to be invested in, the public should be encouraged to use them.  Mr Scott-Clark explained that NHS Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) included a drive to encourage clinicians to treat smoking as a clinical illness instead of a social illness, as they had previously done.  The ‘stop smoking’ service would be sub-contracted to pharmacies, and he undertook to give Members the details of local pharmacies offering the service outside the meeting. 

5.            RESOLVED that the verbal updates be noted, with thanks.