Issue - meetings

To consider the report of the Head of Health Improvement

The Committee considered the draft Interim Health and Wellbeing Strategy.  The Health and Social Care Bill placed a duty on local Councils and Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to develop a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy to meet the needs identified in the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA).  The Strategy should be developed through a robust process of prioritisation in order to achieve the greatest impact and the most effective use of collective resources.  The Department of Health had produced draft guidance setting out a number of values underpinning good strategies, including:

      Setting shared priorities based on evidence of greatest need;

      Concentrating on an achievable amount, recognising that prioritisation was difficult but it was important to maximise resources and focus on issues where the greatest outcomes could be achieved;

      Supporting increased choice and control by people who used services with independence, prevention and integration at the heart of such support.

The draft strategy as submitted had been produced by taking into account information from the JSNA, Sustainable Community Strategy and priorities identified by the Children’s Trust, Safer Cheshire Partnership, the CCGs, the Cheshire East Housing Strategy and the Ageing Well Programme.   A further draft strategy would then be approved by the Health and Wellbeing Board in early summer 2012 for wide consultation.  Following consultation, a further draft would be presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board with the strategy being finalised for 1 April 2013. 

The draft strategy adopted a “life course” approach under 3 Outcome headings –

      Starting and developing well;

      Working and living well;

      Ageing well.

In discussing the draft strategy, Members of the Committee made the following comments:

      A national and local policy context should be included at the beginning of the strategy to “set the scene”;

      The strategy should include local demographical information with a narrative explanation;

      Outcome 1 should include a reference to families and carers;

      The Strategy should include reference to the roles of relevant Cabinet members and Scrutiny Committees to reflect the wide ranging roles and responsibilities for health and wellbeing;

      Outcome 2 should include reference to learning difficulties and mental health as priorities.

RESOLVED:  that the draft Health and Wellbeing Strategy be supported and the comments made at the meeting, as outlined above, be taken into account when the Strategy is redrafted.