Agenda item

Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the refresh of the Health and Wellbeing Joint Strategy and Joint Strategic Needs Assessment, attached. A presentation will also be given at the meeting.

The draft 2017 JSNA Devon Overview can be found here. http://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/jsna/overview/draft-2017/

The Health and Wellbeing Joint Strategy 2016-2019 is also attached.

The Board are being asked to note that the main challenges identified in 2016 remain broadly the same, hence asking the Board to endorse the recommendation that JHWS priorities remain valid and no update is required at this time.

The Board considered the Report of the Chief Officer for Communities, Public Health, Environment and Prosperity on the refresh of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and Health and Wellbeing Joint Strategy.

The Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Devon overview 2017 used the same document structure as the 2015 and 2016 overview and included updates to text, tables and figures.

New information added in 2017 included a sub-section about the Devon Sustainability and Transformation Plan, highlighting common challenges and priority areas across Devon, Plymouth and Torbay, the removal of the ‘equality and diversity’ section with this instead embedded in the content across most sections, additional content regarding the Devon Economic Assessment and Strategy for Growth in the ‘economy’ section, improved links and content from the Devon Strategic Assessment (and other crime / community safety sources) in the ‘community and environment’ section and additional content relating to frailty, visual impairment, social isolation, loneliness, food poverty, healthy eating, mental health and climate change.

The document concluded with a summary of the main health and wellbeing challenges in Devon which built upon the challenges identified in 2016, including an ageing population and increased demand, new towns, financial pressures requiring a different solutions to improving health and wellbeing, complex organisational configuration, rurality and access to services, a high quality outdoor environment but poor quality indoor environment in some areas, below average earnings and high cost of living, a need to focus on prevention and address  inequalities gaps, mental health,  social isolation and loneliness, changing patterns of health-related behaviour, long-term conditions and multi-morbidity, growing levels of severe frailty and a diverse population. The Board noted that inequality took many forms and could also be hidden.

The Strategy that was approved by the Board on 8th September 2016, http://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/strategies/ was high level, simple and sought to reflect progress that the wider system had made as separate organisations and collectively over the last three years.

Both the Strategy and the JSNA provided strategic oversight that health needs and health inequalities were being addressed. The Board further agreed a new health and wellbeing outcomes framework based on the new strategy priorities with an increased focus on mental health and housing indicators to reflect challenges in these areas and a themed based approach to its meetings to allow discussion on the outcomes.

The Board also received a supporting presentation which outlined some of the data that had supported the JSNA including population structure and change, profiles, health inequality data, impacts of rurality, cost of living, health related behaviours, frailty projections and the challenges for Devon.

It was felt that based on the updated JSNA, the priorities in the Strategy remained valid and it was recommended that no update to the Strategy was currently required.

Members asked questions and discussed the following matters.

·         The need for a more focussed discussion on housing and housing suitability and the need for this to be better reflected in the Strategy;

·         A request for the goal that related to better understanding of the needs of children with a physical disability to be enhanced;

·         Whether the title should include the word ‘asset’ e.g. Joint Strategic Needs and Asset Assessment; and

·         Clarification of where and how overarching actions plans were held and monitored (subsequently confirmed as http://www.devonhealthandwellbeing.org.uk/strategies/)

The Board reinforced their support for an outcome based approach.

It was MOVED by Councillor Leadbetter, SECONDED by Dr Pearson, and   

RESOLVED that the Board approve the proposed Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) Devon Overview 2017 and agree that no changes were required to the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2016-19.