Agenda and minutes

23.1     The minutes of the meeting held on 28 September 2023 were agreed as a correct record of the meeting.

24.1     The following apologies for absence were received from members of the Board:

• Councillor Carl Maynard, East Sussex County Council.
• Councillor Margaret Bannister, Eastbourne Borough Council.
• Joe Chadwick-Bell, East Sussex Healthcare Trust.
• Veronica Kirwan, Healthwatch East Sussex.

24.2     The following apologies for absence were received from invited observers with speaking rights:

• Councillor Andy Batsford, Hasting Borough Council.

24.3     The following substitutions were made for invited observers with speaking rights:

• Councillor Maya Evans, Hastings Borough Council substituted for Councillor Andy Batsford.

24.4     Apologies for absence were also received from Vicky Smith, Programme Director - East Sussex Health and Social Care Transformation.

25.1     There were no disclosures of interests.

Notification of items which the Chair considers to be urgent and proposes to take at the end of the agenda. Any members who wish to raise urgent items are asked, wherever possible, to notify the Chair before the start of the meeting. In so doing, they must state the special circumstances which they consider justify the matter being considered urgently

26.1     There no urgent items notified.

27.1     The Board considered a report on the East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership (ESSCP) Annual Report for 2022/23. Chris Robson, Independent Chair, East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership introduced the report outlining the key learning and achievements together with the future priorities for the ESSCP. He commented that East Sussex has a very mature and highly functioning partnership, with the local authority providing a good culture of challenge and support.

27.2     Alison Jeffery, Director of Children’s Services commented that she would like to record her appreciation of the support given by Chris Robson in his role as Independent Chair.

27.3     Members of the Board discussed the report and noted their support and thanks for all the work set out in the report. The Board commented that the number of sexual abuse offences outlined in the report was high and asked if there was anything that could be done to reduce or mitigate against the number of offences occurring. Councillor Maya Evans observed that some people who are abusers have been abused themselves and that therapy and other interventions can help to tackle this.

27.4     Alison Jeffery responded that sexual offences against children occur in a variety of forms. Some are within the family and there is work taking place on adult substance abuse which is linked to this, as well as the opportunity for therapy. Where there is abuse between children and young people, schools are doing a good job to help them understand the expectations of respect and consent where there is peer on peer sexually harmful behaviour.

27.5     The Chair recorded the thanks of the Board for the work of the ESSCP and the Annual Report.

27.6     The Board RESOLVED to receive and note the East Sussex Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report for 2022/23.

28.1     The Board considered an update report on the East Sussex Shared Delivery Plan (SDP) Programme. Mark Stainton, Director of Adult Social Care and Health introduced the report. Appendix 1 of the report summarises the eight milestones which are to be achieved by March 2024, and appendix 2 provides more detail on the progress against the milestones. The report also outlines the development of the Integrated Community Teams (ICTs), their key functions, and the enhanced partnership and governance arrangements. Jessica Britton, Executive Managing Director NHS Sussex, added that in the development of the ICTs it had been important to reflect the key themes of the Health and Wellbeing Strategy and demonstrate how ICTs were achieving against key outcomes.

28.2     Members of the Board observed that they were pleased with progress and the work in the community was starting to make improvements. The Board asked if in a future report it would be possible to have a graphic of how ICTs integrated with communities in delivering their work.

28.3     The Chair thanked officers for another good report and the progress that was being made. He commented that with the winter pressures approaching it was important not to forget the good work that was taking place.

28.4     The Board RESOLVED to:

1) Note the content of the progress report; and

2) Note the outline proposals being developed for a strengthened East Sussex ‘Health, Care and Wellbeing Partnership’ and accountability to the Health and Wellbeing Board, which will be brought to the March 2024 meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

29.1     The Board considered an update report on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA). Darrell Gale, Director of Public Health and Graham Evans, Head of Public Health Intelligence introduced the report. Darrell Gale outlined the purpose of the JSNA and Graham Evans outlined the changes that had been made to the JSNA together with the resources and proposed priorities for the system and workplan for the development of the JSNA.

29.2     Members of the Board commented that this was a good report and the work with East Sussex in Figures (ESiF) was very impressive. The Board noted the comprehensive list of items in the JSNA Workplan for 2024 and the priorities for the health and care system based on the JSNA work to date.

29.3     Councillor Ungar commented on the use of PSA tests to detect Prostate cancer and the need to do more to detect this cancer including the use of MRI scans. It was hoped that more could be done on this health issue. Darrell Gale commented that there are challenges in diagnosing Prostate cancer as there is no one test or product at present, that is suitable for a national screening programme. This is an issue that the authority is concerned about, but it is not something that the authority can work on alone.

29.4     The Board RESOLVED to approve the JSNA priorities and workplan for 2024.

30.1     The Board considered a report on the development of suicide prevention strategies and action plans for Sussex and East Sussex. Darrell Gale introduced the report and outlined the need for an overarching East Sussex Suicide Prevention Strategy which links to a wider pan-Sussex Strategy matching the areas covered by the Integrated Care Board (NHS Sussex) and Sussex Police. The Strategies reflect the new National Suicide Prevention Strategy, and the report also covers the support provided to people bereaved by suicide.

30.2     Members of the Board commented that the report and strategies were really good pieces of work, and the development of the East Sussex Strategy reflects the input from the people affected by this issue. Alison Jeffery commented that suicide prevention is a significant issue for the children and young people of East Sussex and that East Sussex is an outlier for Emergency Department attendance for self-harm. The Board recognised the importance of this work especially for children and young people.

30.3     The Board RESOLVED to note the recent and ongoing work to develop and implement the two suicide prevention strategies and action plans for Sussex and East Sussex.

31.1     The Board considered the future work programme. Mark Stainton commented that there may be space for another item on the March 2024 meeting agenda. The Chair invited Board members to suggest items that they would like to include in the future work programme. The Senior Scrutiny Adviser commented that Healthwatch may wish to bring a report to the Board on the Rye Listening Tour and would contact Veronica Kirwan regarding the timing of the report.

31.2     The Board RESLOVED to agree the work programme.

32.1     There were none.