Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Bora Kwon, Councillor Helen Rowbottom, Caroline Farrar, Katharine Willmette, and Sarah Bright.

If a Member of the Board, or any other member present in the meeting has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Member must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Member with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Members who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Members are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as an accurate record and note any outstanding actions.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

Peter Haylock (Operational Director for Education and SEND) presented the report which provided a summary of the Local Area SEND Self Evaluation.

He highlighted the co-produce the service had done with children, young people, families, the community sector, and other partners to build shared solutions. He noted some recent examples of stakeholder engagement:

•       Focused group sessions with young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and Education, Health, and Care Plans, reflecting on the SEND Outcomes framework and its application in their daily lives.

•       Monthly meetings between senior managers and our parent carers forum with additional themed surgeries including Housing and Supported Employment Opportunities.

•       Reflective sessions to listen to and hear from young people engaged in the supported employment pathway.

•       Community engagement sessions hosted in Family Hubs including termly family voice coffee mornings to allow residents and partners to provide feedback on the hubs and discuss current developments.

Peter Haylock also highlighted that Hammersmith & Fulham Council's online support for children and young people aged up to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities had been named the best in England by the National Association of Family Information Services. He noted the online service had been developed together with families, parents, and carers.

RESOLVED

1. That the Health and Wellbeing Board notes the contents of the report and contributes any observations.

Dr Nicola Lang (Director of Public Health) introduced the item which presented the Council’s suicide prevention strategy, approved by Cabinet on 3 March 2025.

She noted that the strategy was framed around three main concepts – See, Say, Signpost:

·      See – we should monitor and understand local suicide data and recognise the factors that increased the risk of suicidality to be able to identify risk factors and target groups at greater risk and provide focussed support.

·      Say - share information with a multi-agency partnership that would take responsibility for reducing the local suicide rate by capitalising on individual expertise and resident touch points.

·      Signpost – we should signpost residents to appropriate and effective support that was suitable for their needs. We must ensure that a range of services were available and accessible, addressing the risk factors that were seen locally. And strengthen referral routes between services to make sure that the right support can be proactively signposted to by any service the resident has contacted.

Dr Lang discussed the primary demographics (white, middle-aged males) and risk factors (substance misuse) associated with suicide. She also highlighted some of the prevention work done to date, including discharge packs for mental health patients, a refined bereavement offer, and an awareness campaign launched in September of 2024.

The Chair thanked Dr Lang for the strategy and stressed that every life lost to suicide was a tragedy. She then opened the item up for questions.

Councillor Natalia Perez welcomed the strategy and asked for more information on the multi-agency approach. Dr Lang said, thanks to the police, the Public Health team had access to real time notifications alerting officers to unexplained deaths that required checks. She also noted there were two boards in place. The Suicide Case Review which included representatives from adult social care, mental health services, drug and alcohol services, and housing. It was a confidential meeting that reviewed cases in tranches and tried to take immediate learning points to prevent future cases. There was also a Suicide Prevention Strategy Group which included representatives from criminal justice, the ICS, and Healthwatch.

Nadia Taylor (Healthwatch) asked for a brief summary of actions taken to remedy this issue and why Hammersmith & Fulham had the highest rate of suicide in London. She also highlighted a suicide prevention event held by Healthwatch in September. The Chair said the strategy contained detail of work taken to date and actions planned to prevent future deaths. She also noted that the data lagged and the borough may not have the highest rate anymore. Dr Lang added that the statistics on suicide were very sensitive because they were relatively small numbers. However, she noted that all risk factors would be addressed, even if they pertained to one death.

Dr James Cavanagh (H&F GP) noted that Primary Care Networks were investing in active reviews of patients with severe mental illnesses. He felt there were good links with services like Turning Point who could support people with dependency issues. Health recognised the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Jacqui McShannon (Executive Director – People) introduced the Better Care Fund paper which set out the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and the H&F Integrated Care Board’s quarter 3 report. She noted the report had been submitted to NHS England on 14 February 2025. She asked members to email in any questions about the paper for a written response.

RESOLVED

1. That the Health and Wellbeing Board ratified the BCF quarter 3 report for 2024-2025 (Appendix 1).

2. That the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health receive an end of year report outlining the outcomes of each scheme and the difference it has made for residents of H&F.

The refreshed Joint Forward Plan for 2025/26 is presented for discussion and noting.

Susan Roostan (H&F ICB Borough Director) and Toby Lambert (H&F ICB Executive Director of Strategy & Population Health) introduced the Joint Forward Plan which set out how North West London’s local NHS services and eight local authorities would improve outcomes in population health, prevent ill health and tackle inequalities, enhance productivity and value for money, and support broader economic and social development.

Toby Lambert noted the plan had been prepared and circulated prior to the Government’s announcements about the dissolution of NHS England and the reduction to ICB staffing budgets.

Susan Roostan highlighted the plan’s nine priorities and noted that the Integrated Neighbourhood Teams would each lead on one priority and share learning:

·      Establish integrated neighbourhood teams with primary care at their heart

·      Reduce inequalities and improve health outcomes through population health management

·      Optimise ease of movement for patients throughout their care – right care, right place

·      Embed access to consistent high-quality community services by maximising productivity

·      Improve children and young people’s mental health and community care

·      Improve mental health services in the community and services for people in crisis

·      Transform maternity care

·      Increase cancer detection rates and deliver faster access to treatment

·      Transform the way planned care works

The Chair asked what the impact of the recent Government announcements would mean for the plan. Toby Lambert said they did not have clarity at this time but the headline figures of 50% reductions to NHS England and the ICBs would revelry restrict their capacity.

The Chair questioned the utility of feeding back on a plan that was likely to be redundant in the coming weeks.

Councillor Natalia Perez asked if the priorities would be revisited and when. Toby Lambert said they had planned to revisit them after the NHS 10-Year Health Plan was due in May. He noted that the current priority was the Integrated Neighbourhood Teams but the new NHS 10-Year Plan could change that.

Dr James Cavanagh said health services had been through several restructures but the key themes and issues for our population would remain the same. He felt strategic documents like the Joint Forward Plan were useful. The Chair said that raised the issue of why those issues hadn’t changed in 20 years, noting an example of persistently low testing rates for cervical cancer, despite Imperial having invented a home testing kit.

Susan Roostan noted colleagues were working on how to deliver the changes discussed previously, but said partners shouldn’t lose sight of the key priorities in the plan.

RESOLVED

1. The update on the Joint Forward Plan was noted.

Healthwatch Hammersmith & Fulham’s Impact Report is presented for information.

Ruchi Wadwa (Healthwatch H&F) gave a presentation on the Healthwatch Hammersmith & Fulham Impact Report which detailed the impact of their work since 2020 under ‘Your Voice in Health and Social Care’ which gave people a voice to improve and shape services and help them get the best out of health and social care provision.

The Chair asked if Healthwatch was linked to the NHS Patient Advice and Liaison Service and if they had feedback from hospitals. Carleen Duffy said they discussed thematic issues with them.

Councillor Natalia Perez said it was good to hear GPs were expanding online booking options but noted some patients had concerns about accessibility and asked if digital inclusion was being considered. Carleen Duffy (Healthwatch H&F) said digital exclusion was an issue and some people preferred to engage with a person rather than book online. She said digital exclusion was not just linked to age, but disability, mental health, and poverty. Healthwatch had signposted people to charities that provide devices and classes – and had worked with the ICB on this issue. The Chair added that there were good classes on offer at the Macbeth Centre.

Dr James Cavanagh said the NHS did recognise the risk of digital exclusion and had commissioned proactive lines of activity to reach out to people with learning difficulties and those who were very vulnerable.

Councillor Perez, in the section on suicide prevention, noted Healthwatch had advocated for fast-track referrals and increased drop-in mental health services. She asked if this had been incorporated into the Council’s Suicide Strategy. Dr Lang said she would take this forward with Healthwatch.

ACTION: Dr Nicola Lang / Carleen Duffy

Nadia Taylor reiterated the concerns about digital exclusion, noting that patients and carers had reported there being more appointment slots available on the online booking system than via phone booking. She suggested GP practices should offer the same number of appointments on the phone and online.

RESOLVED

1. The update was noted.

To discuss the Board’s work programme and suggest items for future meetings.

There were no comments on the work programme.

To note the following dates of future meetings:

·       23 Jun 2025

·       10 September 2025

·       3 December 2025

·       18 March 2026

·       22 June 2026

The following dates of future meetings were noted:

• 23 June 2025
• 10 September 2025
• 3 December 2025
• 18 March 2026
• 22 June 2026