Agenda and minutes

Minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2023, attached.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2023 be signed as a correct record.

Items which in the opinion of the Chair should be considered at the meeting as matters of urgency.

Hospiscare Funding

The Chair reported on the recommendation made at Cabinet yesterday (10 January) that either this Board or the Health and Adult Care Scrutiny Committee look at funding issues for Hospices in Devon. The Chair felt this would be better placed for the Scrutiny Committee to consider and it was RESOLVED that the Chair would speak with the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee accordingly.

Report of the Deputy Director of Integrated Adult Social Care, attached.

The Board received the Report of the Deputy Director of Integrated Adult Social Care, which provided an update on the Better Care Fund plan for 2023/25 and latest performance metrics and spending for the current year

The Better Care Fund (BCF) was the mandatory policy to facilitate integration between Health and Social Care, providing a framework for joint planning and commissioning.  The BCF brought together ring-fenced budgets from NHS allocations, ring-fenced BCF grants from Government, the Disabled Facilities Grant and voluntary contributions from local government budgets, including the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund.  This Health and Wellbeing Board had oversight of the BCF and was accountable for its delivery.

The BDF plan for 2023-25 had been submitted in June and had now received national approval, thereby enabling the formal release of funding from NHS England for the financial year 2023/24.

Of note was the new Falls indicator, covering ‘Emergency hospital admissions due to falls in people aged 65 & over’, which was currently off target, but would be monitored closely and updated next time.

Discussion points and questions included:

·       Residential admissions – that numbers had started to increase slightly following the pandemic, as was the case with similar neighbouring local authorities.

·       The importance of Devon Carers; and that the Board be treated as a key stakeholder in the carers contract renewal arrangements.

·       That environmental health officers were ready to consider any new initiatives to ensure monies were invested in the right places to have maximum impact.

The Board were happy to note the report.

Update report from NHS Devon, attached.

The Board noted the update from NHS Devon which provided Devon-wide and national developments within the NHS. It was intended to provide the Board with summary information to ensure Members were kept abreast of important developments.

The paper updated the Board on the following:

·       Covid and Flu Vaccination Programme

·       Financial update

·       Elective care

·       Industrial action

·       Pharmacy closures

·       NHS Devon Chief Executive Officer

The Director of Public Health Devon reported on the development of the Devon Community Pharmacy Strategy. The Health and Wellbeing Boards represented a key stakeholder group that must be consulted in the development of a strategy, particularly due to their role in the development and review of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment. 

Those Board members interested in being involved in the formal Consultation session on the development of the Devon Community Pharmacy Strategy were taken by the Clerk.  It was hoped the Consultation session would also be attended by Torbay and Plymouth HWBs.

Devon Youth Council Network update.

The Board received a presentation (attached to Agenda) from the Devon Youth Council Network on Youth Voice-Mental Health, which provided an update as requested following their attendance at the Board’s meeting in March 2023.

Highlights in the presentation included:

·       The Mental Health in School Teams was going well and was being expanded to include all schools in West Devon. Funding was from central Government and that more needed to be done to secure funding so that all schools in Devon could benefit from this early intervention.

·       From January 2024, there would be multi-agency meetings with schools, including the educational psychology service, in order to embed relational policy and practice, starting with 100 schools.

·       Devon Directory of mental health support services, called Thrive had now been launched so that practitioners, teachers and parents/carers knew where to find help and support in their area rather than just referring to CAMHS.

·       More in-depth training for foster carers on specific mental health issues had been asked for and was being rolled out by CAMHS this year.

The Chair thanked the presenters for their attendance and requested an update in six months’ time.

The Board received the refreshed Devon Joint Forward Plan for consideration and comment prior to it being presented to the NHS Devon Board for approval on 6 March 2024.

The Interim Chief Nursing Officer, NHS Devon, agreed to circulate to the Board a paper noting the changes from the previous Plan, on which the Board could comment and respond by the end of February 2024.

The Board requested an update to a future Board meeting.

Annual report attached.

The Board received the Annual Report of the Torbay and Devon Safeguarding

Adults Partnership (TDSAP) 2022/23. The Annual Report included the

following sections:

·       Purpose

·       Structure

·       Partnership Membership

·       Safeguarding Activity

·       TDSAP Priorities 2021-24

·       Key Partner Achievements

The strategic priorities for the TDSAP and published in their 2021-24

Business Plan were:

×         To embed the learning from Safeguarding Adult Reviews

×         To work with partners to better understand and reduce the risk of

×         ‘Hidden Harm’, especially in the context of Covid-19;

×         To improve outcomes for people with needs for care and support by

×         finding the right solution for them; and

×         Improving Involvement and Engagement with people in receipt of

×         safeguarding services.

Of particular highlight in the report was Section 6: Safeguarding Adults Reviews, where the main focus of their work had been over the past year.

The Board were reassured of the monitoring work taking place regarding Section 42 Safeguarding Concerns where both Torbay and Devon had safeguarding concern activity levels below the national and regional averages.

Further information on the Board’s work including the Safeguarding Board Annual Report was available on the Torbay & Devon Safeguarding Adults Partnership website.

Letter from the Chairman of South Hams District Council, attached.

The Director of Public Health Devon reported on a letter addressed to the Board received from South Hams District Council.  The letter stated that at a recent meeting of South Hams District Council a motion had been put forward concerning NHS Dentistry Services, and it was resolved that:

‘In a move to address the dentistry crisis it is resolved that the Council encourages the Devon Health and Wellbeing Board and our local MPs (Anthony Mangnall and Sir Gary Streeter) to work with local dental practitioners and patients to investigate the setting up of a pilot scheme to provide accessible no-frills dental care for all age groups, with the aim of encouraging the relevant NHS services to introduce the scheme across South Hams.’

As the Board did not have responsibility for Dentistry, the Board agreed to ask that the NHS update item at the next meeting also include an update on Dentistry; and that the letter from South Hams District Council also be forwarded to appropriate NHS colleagues responsible for Dentistry.

Verbal report of the Director of Public Health, Communities and Prosperity.

This item was discussed under Minute *127 above.

Future meeting dates are included in the Council’s Meetings Calendar.

Next meeting (revised):  25 April 2024

Future meeting dates of the Board could be found on the Council’s website -

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Next meeting – 25 April 2024 (revised)