Minutes:
1. The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, Mrs Clair Bell, gave a verbal update on the following:
a. The Met Office had issued a heat health warning from Monday 11 July to Friday 15 July 2022. Members of the public were urged to keep an eye on family members, friends and neighbours who might be considered vulnerable and need extra assistance during this period.
b. KCC has a statutory responsibility to publish a statement on the need for pharmacy services in Kent. The Kent Pharmaceutical Needs Assessmentwill be used by NHS England when considering applications for new pharmacies and helps to inform commissioners of the current provision of pharmacy services. The public consultation is open until the 21st of August 2022 at the link provided below:
https://letstalk.kent.gov.uk/pharmaceuticalneedsassessment
c. Mrs Bell was pleased to attend and speak at the Reconnect Hackathon event held on 30th June. The Kent Reconnect Programme is a community-led programme designed to get Kent’s children and young people back to enjoying the activities and opportunities they took part in before COVID-19, as well as the chance to try new things along the way. The aim of the event was to challenge teams of secondary and primary schools pupils to come up with ways to improve their health and wellbeing. Winners included the development of a project called “My Mind Matters” which is an app to check the wellbeing of pupils and staff available on school iPads and accessible 24/7, a project to improve physical, mental health and wellbeing of children through drama, and an Active Inclusive Lunchtime initiative. The Reconnect programme has made funding available to put these ideas into action. Mrs Bell commented how impressed she was at the young people’s enthusiasm, positive energy and creativity.
a. From July 2022, the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System would be given statutory responsibilities and the Clinical Commissioning Group would be replaced by the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board. The guidance from NHS England regarding integrated care strategy development had not yet been released.
b. The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) had said that avian influenza (bird flu) was primarily a disease of birds and that the risk of jumping to humans was low. However, the disease was affecting many coastal areas and the risk to the general public needed to be minimised further. Dr Ghosh reminded Members and the public to stay away from sick birds and to keep dogs on leads when dog walking.
c. Dr Ghosh said that the risk of monkeypox had been downgraded by UKHSA. Members were told that this infection was spread through close physical contact and presented a distinct set of symptoms. The guidance for those who exhibited the rash with blisters was to stay at home, avoid close contact with other people and to call a sexual health clinic for further guidance. The epidemiological situation showed that a high proportion of England cases were London residents. At the time of the meeting there were 96 confirmed cases in the Southeast region.
3. In response to questions from Members it was said that the NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care board was officer-led with representation from numerous councils and stakeholders. Further information about the membership was available at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/33-nhs-kent-and-medway-icb-constitution-010722.pdf.
4. RESOLVED to note the verbal updates.