Agenda item - Formal Public Involvement

This is the part of the meeting when members of the public can formally ask questions of the Board or present a petition.  These need to be notified to the Board in advance of the meeting Contact the Secretary to the Board at tom.mccolgan@brighton-hove.gov.uk

 

RESOLVED: That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the Deputation.

37(b) Written questions

 

37.1    The Chair stated that five written public questions had been received.

 

37.2    The Chair stated that Ms Hudson and Mr Hadman were not in attendance to put forward their question and asked they be included in the minutes with their response.

 

(i)              Written question submitted by Ms Hudson that was originally send to the Housing and New homes Committee before being referred to the Health and Wellbeing Board:

 

“Can the Committee explain the lack of preparatory work for implementation of the SWEP and why facilities have not yet been made available for those living on our streets?”

 

Written response:

 

“Following a public consultation about reducing the temperature trigger for opening the severe weather shelter, a competitive tender was issued.  The tender, to run a new SWEP service opening on one night at a predicted temperature of ‘feels like’ 0 degrees was released in Summer 2018.   Unfortunately the council did not receive any bids for the contract.

 

In September 2018 the council with the support of partner agencies developed plans for the delivery of the service without a lead provider.  The council identified premises and developed a plan to deliver the service, at no point in this process would the council have been unable to deliver SWEP provision if the temperature posed a risk to life.  The council continued to have SWEP available on the trigger of 2 nights at 0 degrees until the 26th November 2018. 

 

From the 26th November 2018 the council began operating on the new ‘feels like’ temperature trigger.   Initially SWEP provision was being offered from a number of venues across the city and this could have continued throughout the winter however the council subsequently found a suitable central venue.  The council took possession of this property at Wagner Hall on the 1st December 2018 and it was ready for use one week later.

 

Due to the mild start to winter SWEP did not open for the first time until the 12th December however since this date we have opened on 21 nights (up to Friday 24th Jan) which is 9 more nights than we had opened at this point in the winter of 2017/18”

 

(ii)             Written question submitted by Mr Hadman that was originally send to the Housing and New homes Committee before being referred to the Health and Wellbeing Board :

 

“Earlier this year, Brighton and Hove City Council said its night shelter for people forced to sleep rough would open from 2 November until the 20 March. We are now informed the opening date will be 30 November 2018 and that there will be nights when the premises at the Brighton Centre will not be available. Could the Chairperson explain why there is such inadequate organisation and planning?

 

Written response:

 

“During the summer of 2018 we invited organisations to apply to manage the night shelter from 2 November until 20 March, but unfortunately no applications were made because of the limited capacity of providers to run a temporary winter service.

 

We’re disappointed not to be able to open the night shelter as early as we’d hoped but we worked closely with partners to build on the provision already in place and are pleased that Brighton Housing Trust are running the shelter from 24 November 2018.   The nights that the Syndicate Wing, Brighton Centre is not available due to existing booking, the shelter is moving to St Martins Church, so there is no break in provision.”

 

37.3    The Chair invited James Wood to ask a question on behalf of Neil Jones:

 

          “Following the decision by the Health and Well-being Board on 11th September 2018 to investigate the expansion of the Housing First project from 10 to 20 units, can the Housing and New Homes Committee confirm what steps they have taken to ensure the provision of 20 additional units for housing first and when the properties will be made available?”

 

37.4    The Chair thanked James Wood for his question and gave the following written response:

 

          “Thank you for your question which was sent to Housing and New Homes and referred to the Board. Housing and New Homes do see to the overall allocations within the city. Obviously we are keen to ensure that there are suitable options for the expansion of Home First and officers are working together from housing and HASC to work through options of where these units can be sourced and we will provide an update to the March meeting.”

 

37.5    The Chair invited John Kapp to ask a question:

 

          “Please can the Board tell if they support the development of Community Care Centre above Wish Park surgery at 191 Portland Rd Hove, which would be a mental A&E, open 24/7/365 as a crisis centre to relieve pressure on primary care, and provide complementary therapy free at the point of use under the social prescribing agenda advocated under the 10 year plan announced last week.”

 

37.6    The Chair thanked John Kapp for his question and gave the following written response:

 

“I am aware you have asked similar questions of both this Board and also CCG Governing Body in the past. Currently there are no plans to commission such services in Wish Park Surgery.

 

As you noted the NHS 10 year plan was announced last week. The CCG will be undertaking a range of engagement activities shorty to help with planning and impact on future commissioning.”

 

37.7    Dr David Supple stated that consultation was required prior to any commissioning and part of the process would be a discussion to address the best options for delivery of non-primary care.

 

37.8    John Kapp stated that the area designated for a health facility had now been vacant for four years in which time could have been serving west hove. He added that regarding the recent NHS initiative to recruit more non-medical staff to assist GPS in supporting patients with mental illness and suffer loneliness, the Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, welcomed plans for a new ‘army of workers’ and he hoped that the board will study his issues raised as these effected the whole city.

 

37.9    The Chair invited John Kapp to ask a question on behalf of Jacqui Madders:

 

          “When are those in the positions of perceived power, in that they have tax payer and government funds, going to act upon the collective moral conscience in order to provide effective solutions for people suffering psychologically and emotionally in order to prevent suicides, self-harm and other reactive issues. The current contracts and those in charge as CEOs etc. are failing. So the solution is by giving vouchers so people may choose their treatment. Most effective therapists are around £60 per hour with long term economic benefits outweighing the short termism currently in place. What is the Board intending to do about this?”

 

37.10  The Chair thanked John Kapp for his question and gave the following written response:

 

          “Thank you for your question

 

There are a range of services in place in the city to support people with mental health issues from early interventions to those with very complex and enduring needs. Commissioning of services is based on the evidence of needs and also those that are the most clinically effective. As and when services are recommissioned this will be done looking at the Joint Strategic Needs of the city and looking at the clinical effectiveness at that time.”

 

37.11  John Kapp did not wish to ask a supplementary question but stated that more options for social prescription be considered.

 

37(c) Deputations

 

37.12  The Chair thanked Matthew Moors Coordinator of the Dementia Action Alliance (DAA) Brighton and Hove and invited The Executive Director- Adult & Social Care and Dr David Supple to speak on the council’s position.

 

37.13  The Executive Director- Adult & Social Care thanked Matthew Moors for his deputation and stated that over the past 20 years of working in this area that there were increasingly good examples and awareness that was reflected in the numbers and the impact of the DAA.  He added that the initiative was about delivering actions in the form of staff training sessions, carers support work and to support other significant organisations to promote the ongoing work.

 

37.14  Dr David Supple stated that he supported the direction of travel in the move to work with colleagues across the system and agreed that plans needed to be crystallised by clarifying timelines of actions. Many of the issues covered directly affected GP surgeries and it was important to recognise that dementia diagnosis had peaked, that it was not enough to solely diagnose the dementia and that aftercare was key.

 

37.15 Matthew Moore responded that DAA had been auditing and providing more resources for GP practices and that it was particularly difficult for patients to navigate some environments due to the peculiarities of dementia.                                                                   

 

37.16  Councillor O’Quinn, the new lead member for mental health, stated that she wholly welcomed the initiative. She stated that certain services, such as the fire service, were leaders in staff training awareness of dementia and other conditions. She added that other services, such as the taxi industry, would benefit from this kind of training as the knowledge and attitudes towards disability affect everyday users.

 

37.17  Matthew Moore stated that the fire service had signed up to the DAA where every fire fighter had completed the session and were now all Dementia Friends. He added that in the past Stream Line taxis had undertook training however they would review transport as it was crucial for people to feel comfortable.

 

37.18  Councillor Page said that it was amazing to see examples of all the projects supporting the DAA. Dementia was a complex disease that would affect many of us and wanted the council to sign up to this cause. He asked if DAA was part of an age-friendly public health project and whether nursing and hospital staff feel that they were fully trained to support and recognise dementia.

 

37.19 Matthew Moore stated that the hospital had a dementia steering group and a dementia charter and the DAA was working with Brighton and Hove’s aging well initiative.

 

37.20  Councillor Wealls asked for clarification on the Board was signing up to in the recommendations.

 

37.21  The Chair stated that the DAA already worked closely with the council and this deputation asked the Board to note and formally sign up as separate organisations, the council and the CCG, to act as an exemplar to communicate and to promote to other organisations and our organisations had not previously officially affiliated with the DAA.

 

37.22  The Head of Legal Services stated that usually there would be financial and legal implications however as the council was already engaged in so additional implications were unnecessary.

 

37.23 The Executive Director- Adult & Social Care stated  that it was easy for organisations to sign up to initiatives however to action plans proved more challenging and organisations needed to develop action plans to understand what their expected contribution was.

 

RESOLVED: That the Health and Wellbeing Board note the Deputation.