Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairperson of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the forthcoming year.

Councillor Teresa Murray was elected as Chairperson of the Board for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.

To elect a Vice-Chairperson of the Health and Wellbeing Board for the forthcoming year.

Jayne Black Chief Executive, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, was elected as Vice-Chairperson of the Board for the 2024/25 Municipal Year.

The Board paid tribute to James Williams, the Council’s Director of Public Health, who had very sadly passed away in May. The Chairperson paid tribute to James, recognising his transformational approach to public health delivery through his dedication to shaping the award winning public health team. James Williams would forever be remembered for his inspirational leadership, passion for improving health outcomes for all, his humility, kind caring nature and his great humour.

Apologies for absence were received from the following Board Members: Paul Bentley, Integrated Care Board (ICB) Representative, Raj Bharkhada, Interim Assistant Director Children’s Social Care, Councillor Coombs, Andrew Stradling Medical Director (interim) Medway & Swale Health & Care Partnership.

An apology for absence was received from the following invited guest: Adrian Richardson, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.

To approve the record of the meeting held on 11 April 2024.

The record of the meeting held on 11 April 2024 was signed by the Chairperson as correct.

The Chairperson will announce any late items which do not appear on the main agenda but which he/she has agreed should be considered by reason of special circumstances to be specified in the report. 

There were none.

Members are invited to disclose any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Significant Interests in accordance with the Member Code of Conduct. Guidance on this is set out in agenda item 4.

Disclosable pecuniary interests

Councillor Lawrence declared that his wife works for East Kent Hospital Trust and would withdraw from the meeting when/if the interest was closely aligned to the business of the agenda item on Women’s Health.

Other significant interests (OSIs)

There were none.

Other interests

There were none.

This meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board brings together different partners to discuss how the Women’s Health Strategy is being implemented locally.

The Board will receive presentations on the following areas and will consider some of the things being done to deliver the National Strategy:

·       An overview of the (national) Women’s Health Strategy and how the ICS Women’s Health Strategy aims to address the key issues

·       An overview of key data related to the use of women’s health services

·       Community Services

·       Menopause

·       Women’s Hubs

Discussion:

The Board received presentations on Women’s Health Strategy, Women’s Hubs, Health Data, Women’s Community Health Matters and Menopause Care in Primary Care. The presentations can be found here.

Across the presentations, officers highlighted the following:

• All the actions being taken locally to address issues with women’s health was directed by the National Women’s Health Strategy.
• Data showed that women lived longer than men but spend a greater proportion of life in ill health and disability in comparison.
• It was vital to tackle taboo and stigma relating to women’s health in order for issues to be taken more seriously and to address access to services and improve life outcomes.
• There was a steady decline in the number of young girls vaccinated against Human Papillomavirus (HPV) as well as a decline in the screening for cervical and breast cancer since Covid.
• Access to maternity services was impacted by deprivation.
• The Integrated Care Board had been awarded £600k funding to set up the Women’s Health Hubs across Medway and Kent.
• It had been directed that at least one Women’s Health Hub must be operational by the end of July 2024 to deliver at least 2 of the core specifications with all 8 specifications to be delivered by December 2024.
• An engagement forum took place at the end of 2023 and a survey was conducted across Medway and Kent with 850 respondents to the survey. A focus group meeting also took place to gather information on population need.
• Four proposals were received from providers to deliver the hubs, following a robust interview and evaluation process.  An agreement was made to fund 2 of the proposals with the other two advised to review and strengthen their proposals and resubmit their bids. The hubs that were approved were both Kent Hubs. There was a bid from a Medway hub which was unsuccessful, and they were advised to strengthen their proposals and resubmit with a view for a potential September start.
• There was a governance group in place to hold the providers of the hubs to account and quantitative and qualitative metrics would be used to measure progress.
• Menopause care had improved slightly in recent years but there were still fundamental issues due to a lack of understanding and awareness of this vital stage in women’s lives. There was also a distinct lack of professionals with an in-depth understanding of women’s needs during this pivotal period in their lives.
• The majority of menopause care should be within primary care, but this was not always the case.
• There was a link between menopause and mental health that needed to be recognised.
• In recent years, social media had played a big part in raising awareness and providing information but there was also a large amount of misinformation, as well as growing mistrust of professionals which was worrying.

Following the presentations, Members made comments and asked questions which included the following:

It was commented that women had been dealing with issues pertaining to their health for centuries and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 122.

The report advises the Board of the forward work programme for discussion in the light of latest priorities, issues and circumstances. It gives the Board an opportunity to shape and direct the Board’s activities.

Discussion:

It was suggested that the Democratic Services Officer work with officers to ensure that the Local Plan is presented to the Board before the end of the year. The Local Plan Consultation Phase B was due to commence and would run till approximately September 2024.

The Board was also informed that the Climage Change Action Plan would be published in June 2025.

Decision:

The Board agreed the work programme as set out in appendix A to the report.