Committee details

In line with nationally agreed operating principles, the Health and Wellbeing Board will seek to:

      i.        provide collective leadership to improve health and well-being across the local authority area, enable shared decision-making and ownership of decisions in an open and transparent way;

    ii.        achieve democratic legitimacy and accountability, and empower local people to take part in decision-making;

   iii.        address health inequalities by ensuring quality, consistency and comprehensive health and local government services are commissioned and delivered in the area; and

   iv.        identify key priorities for health and local government commissioning and develop clear plans for how commissioners can make best use of their combined resources to improve local health and well-being outcomes in the short, medium and long term.

The key functions of the Health and Wellbeing Board are:

      i.        To prepare the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) which identifies the current and future health and wellbeing needs of the local population and may address needs around wider determinants of health.

    ii.        To prepare a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Medway to meet the needs identified in the JSNA.

   iii.        To prepare the Medway Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.

   iv.        To encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health or social care services in the area to work in an integrated manner for the purpose of advancing the health and wellbeing of the people in Medway.

    v.        To encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health   related services (i.e. services that may have an effect on the health of individuals but are not health or social care services) in Medway to work closely with the Board.

   vi.        To encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health or social care services in Medway and those who arrange for the provision of any health –related services in its area to work closely together.

  vii.        To provide advice, assistance or other support appropriate for the purpose of encouraging the making of arrangements under section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 (i.e. arrangements under which NHS bodies and local authorities agree to exercise specified functions of each other).

 viii.        To keep NHS commissioning plans under review to ensure they are taking into account the JSNA and local HWB Strategy, referring back to the CCG or the NHS Commissioning Board where they do not.

   ix.        To advise Medway Council’s Cabinet of its views on whether the local authority is discharging its duty to have regard to the JSNA and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy in discharging its relevant functions.

    x.        To involve users and the public in the work of the Board, as appropriate.

   xi.        To play a formal role in the annual assessment of the Medway Clinical Commissioning Group.

  xii.        To undertake any other functions assigned to Health and Wellbeing Boards in legislation.