Agenda item

This discussion paper outlines a summary of the Health and Wellbeing Board’s existing communications and engagement activities, and identifies opportunities for the Board to further develop its approach to communications and engagement.

The summary of existing communication and engagement activities of the Board, includes communications relating to the Board’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWBS).

Following interviews with communications leads from both the Council and the Clinical Commissioning Group (as key organisations represented on the Board), the paper also makes a number of recommendations about opportunities for further developing the Board’s approach to communications and engagement in future, for consideration by the Board.

Discussion:

This report provided a summary of the existing communications and engagement activities relating to the Health and Wellbeing Board, including those relating to the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS). These were set out in detail at paragraphs 3.6 to 3.10 of the report. Having evaluated existing arrangements and following liaison with communications representatives from Medway Council and Medway NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (as two of the key partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board), the Consultant in Public Health proposed areas of further action as set out in paragraphs 3.12 to 3.18 of the report. The proposed recommendations would increase awareness of the Board and further develop the Board’s understanding of and engagement with local people on health and wellbeing topics.

Board Members expressed support for the proposals set out within the report and welcomed this as a starting point. A number of further suggestions were made, including:

·           publishing information on the Health and Wellbeing Board, including contact points and its work programme within the ‘Medway Matters’ magazine at least twice a year. It was noted that this could be shared with local schools and universities to include within their own publications.

·           seeking information on health and wellbeing topics from key target groups by for example consulting with organisations such as the Medway Parents and Carers Forum who represent the views of parents of children with disabilities and Medway’s Children and Young People Council who represent the views of young people in care and care leavers; and

·           with respect to the upcoming formation of Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs), developing a single engagement plan across providers to work in parallel with the proposals within the report.

In response to the latter point, the Director of Communications, Medway NHS Foundation Trust explained that there were already good communication networks among providers and these would be built in to the ICP going forward.

Decision:

The Health and Wellbeing Board agreed to:

a)    nominate a named communications lead for the Health and Wellbeing Board and request the lead to explore ways of promoting the role of the Board to the public, e.g. using partners’ websites and e-bulletins;

b)    add an update on the “Involving Medway” programme to the Board’s Work Programme;

c)    add an update on the work of the Patient Experience and Public and Patient Engagement (PEPPE) group to the Board’s Work Programme;

d)    consider if there are any health and wellbeing topics which the Board would like to ask the PEPPE group to consider engaging with the public about;

e)    delegate authority to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board to review patient experience case studies developed by the PEPPE and include them in the JSNA as appropriate;

f)     request that the citizens’ panel is used to gather information about health and wellbeing topics, and receive an update on this and the results of the health and wellbeing survey when it is complete in 2019/20;

g)    request that community groups and partnership organisations are used to gather information about health and wellbeing topics from key target groups; and

h)    share information on the Health and Wellbeing Board with Medway’s schools and colleges.