Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Dr Paul Bishop, Michelle Davis, Superintendent Claire Jesson, Peter Skates, Claire Williamson, Isla Wilson and Charlotte Wright.

Inspector Duncan Gouck and Mark Groves attended as substitutes.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2023.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2023 be confirmed as a correct record.

In accordance with paragraph 2.24 of the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules and Appendix on Public Speaking, set out in the Constitution, a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to put questions to the committee on any matter relating to this agenda. Each member of the public will be allowed up to two minutes each to speak, and the Chair will have discretion to vary this where they consider it appropriate.

Members of the public wishing to speak are required to provide notice of this at least three clear working days’ in advance of the meeting.

There were no members of the public present.

To receive a report on the notification of a pharmacy closure.

The Board received a report which provided notification from NHS England of the closure of the Pharmacy in Buglawton and outlined the impact on the residents of Congleton East and Congleton & Holmes Chapel (CHOC) Care Community, and the other pharmaceutical providers who served this area.

Assurance was given that there was no further action required for the statutory responsibility of the Cheshire East Health and Wellbeing Board to be discharged

A gap analysis had been undertaken by the Public Health Intelligence team to understand the impact on residents and customers and other pharmaceutical providers in the area. It was found that there was adequate pharmaceutical provision within the Care Community and the surrounding area which would be able to absorb the additional dispensing workload that would be created by the closure.

The Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) for 2022 – 2025 concluded that the pharmacy services were adequate for the lifetime of that PNA within that area and included looking at an aging population, future population growth and housing developments.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To consider the report on the co-production of the Cheshire East Place - Mental Health Plan and Cheshire East Place - Learning Disabilities Plan.

The Board considered a report which sought endorsement from the Health and Wellbeing Board of the Cheshire East Place Plans for Learning Disabilities and Mental Health. The Plans had already been approved at the Children and Families Committee and the Adults and Health Committee.

Both plans had an all-age approach, had been co-produced and were available in easy read versions. Monitoring of the plans would take place through the Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Boards with an annual report presented to the Adults and Health Committee and the Children and Families Committee.

Board members welcomed the plans but agreed that they were strategies that should be looked at holistically and not stand alone.

Officers agreed to take away a query raised about whether dentistry was included within the NHS health-checks. It was reported that NHS England had previously commissioned this but there was a piece of work being undertaken separately on how this would be brought in to the ICB.

RESOLVED: (Unanimously)

That the Cheshire East Health and Wellbeing Board endorse:

1. The Cheshire East Place – Learning Disabilities Plan.
2. The Cheshire East Place – Mental Health Plan.

To receive the Cheshire East Winter Plan 2023-24.

The Board received an update on winter planning for 2023/2024. The overall purpose of the Winter plan was to ensure that the system was able to effectively manage the capacity and demand pressures anticipated during the Winter period October 2023 to 31 March 2024. System plans ensured that local systems were able to manage demand surge effectively and ensure people remained safe and well during the Winter months. The planning process considered the impact and learning from last Winter, as well as learning from the system response to Flu and Covid-19 to date.

Oversight and monitoring had commenced to measure the effectiveness or any emerging or associated risks such as system workforce challenges and the increase in the level of need and complexity of individuals which was now much greater in terms of their level of needs, care and support.

Funding so far had been invested on schemes around prevention, facilitated discharge, additional workforce loads such as social work and approved mental health practitioners.

Set metrics were in place for rigorous monitoring of the plan which included accident and emergency attendance and admissions, daily discharge, length of stay, care at home capacity and mental health act assessments.

Following comments and questions from Board members, officers reported that:

-       There had been an uptake of 60.2% of all those eligible for the covid winter booster in Cheshire East.

-       The most up to date figures for flu vaccinations hadn’t been released yet.

To attract staff in having vaccinations there had been onsite clinics and programmes run with pharmacies, details of which had been shared with staff.

-       Levels are influenza were low although there had been an increase. The number of covid cases had increased recently although those had begun to come down again.

-       There was a clear message that there was not going to be any additional funds to support capacity within the NHS for the winter period.

RESOLVED:

That the update be noted.

To receive details of the refreshed Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Partnership Strategy.

This item was taken after item 9 - SEND SEF.

The Board received a report which set out the details of the refreshed Special

Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) partnership strategy and priority areas for

the next 12 months aligned to the outcomes of the Delivering Better Value (DBV)

programme.

Due to the current financial position the high needs spend was an area for development and the refreshed strategy enabled areas of activity to be identified in order to mitigate spend..

It was expected that the strategy would be re-written next year which would include the mitigations and activities coming out of the Safety Valve programme of work which was the next tier of intervention by the Department for Education (DfE).

A plan of the detailed work which would sit under the Safety Valve programme would be a feature of the 2024 activity to re-write the strategy and the detail of the programme of work would be set out in a refreshed governance structure. The Health and Wellbeing Board would be sighted on this along with the SEND partnership activity which would also be brought to the Board on a regular basis.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

To receive a presentation on the SEND Self Evaluation Form.

The Board received a presentation on the SEND Self Evaluation Form (SEF) which was used as a tool for the partnership to know itself well and to identify areas for development. The SEF would then feed in to the SEND Strategy. The presentation outlined the following:

-       The purpose of the SEF

-       The development of Cheshire East’s SEF

-       The strengths and areas of development for Cheshire East

-       The next steps

Board members asked that there was consistency with the information provided for the different boards and partnerships within the Council so that there was a similar approach as there appeared to be a perceived discrepancy within some areas.

In response to concerns raised in respect of the disparity of provision such as waiting lists and inconsistency in the different processes across the borough, officers reported that this was an area of great scrutiny with partners and a report will be brought to the Health and Wellbeing Board for consideration.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.