Agenda item

This reportprovides an update on the progress of the population health management development programme following the final System-level Action Learning Set the delivery of which took place on 1 March 2022.

The report also includes a summary of the agreed priority areas that will inform the development of the health inequalities strategic plan which were agreed by the Kent and Medway (K&M) Joint Health and Wellbeing Board in December 2021, a brief update on the K&M Health Equality Partnership Programme, and key changes within the Prevention Programme relating to the Turning the Tide Oversight Board and the BAME Strategy Board.

Discussion:

The Executive Director, Strategy and Population Health, Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (ED, K&M CCG) updated Board members on the progress of the population health management (PHM) development programme following the final System-level Action Learning Set (ALS) the delivery of which took place on 1 March 2022.

The ED, K&M CCG said that one of the areas of PHM was to develop mechanisms to improve outcomes and reduce health inequalities. It was necessary to ensure improved access to health services by different cohorts of the population recognising method of delivery might be different for different people. The success of the 22-week cycle of PHM relied on data and their interpretation/application by local intelligence. It was agreed that co-production should be a key principle underpinning the action plan and local communities must be involved in its design and delivery, which was a keen pursuit of the Kent and Medway Joint Health and Wellbeing Board.

The ED, K&M CCG reminded that it had been agreed that Kent and Medway could make a difference by focusing on people with mental health conditions and on areas of highest deprivation to reduce inequalities. The participating neighbourhoods (four Primary Care Networks) had identified similar themes, like diabetes and obesity, for areas of focus.  It was expected to roll out the next phase of PHM, i.e. spread the learning and sustain the PHM approach, in May 2022 for completion, across Kent and Medway, in about 18 months’ time. Full implementation would require the delivery of a linked data set which included wider determinants of health such as social care, education, housing and employment to build a better picture of the population.

The ED, K&M CCG further advised that while the health inequalities programme had recently received a funding of £5.9 million, the change in the funding regime for health systems remained one of the programme’s biggest challenges.

The following issues were discussed:

Oversight of Health Inequalities, Population Health and Prevention – comments were made on the complexity of the cause and effect of health inequalities. On real practical intervention and expected outcomes, the ED, K&M CCG referred to the Inequalities, Prevention and Population Health (IPPH) Committee to be formed under the Integrated Care Board (ICB) and urged that opportunity should be seized in using the platform to develop health strategy and outcomes and to oversee the delivery of population health and prevention programmes. She advised that Medway Council at large would be represented at both the ICB and the IPPH Committee.

The DPH added that the IPPH Committee would include responsibility to inform the development of strategic and clinical transformation and innovation plans that impacted on health inequalities which sat outside the remit of other ICB. The role of PHM was to facilitate an approach to partnership working that delivered improved population outcomes in the short, medium to long term. As regards locality needs, the DPH pointed out that such needs should also be assessed by the NHS through connecting with PCNs and via voluntary sector organisations and other agencies such as the Medway Taskforce.

Decisions:

The Health and Wellbeing Board noted the update and agreed to continue to support the spread and sustain plans.