Agenda item

Report by the Director of Public Health.

28.1     The Board considered an update report on the East Sussex Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the future direction of the JSNA.

28.2     The Board asked if all the information currently available on East Sussex in Figures (ESiF) will be available on the new web site.

28.3     Graham Evans, Head of Public Health Intelligence confirmed that the intention is that all the information currently available on ESiF will be available on the new web site.

28.4     The Board asked how the cost of living crisis and the resultant pressures on housing, food and dietary needs would be taken into account in the JSNA.

28.5     Darrell Gale, Director of Public Heath outlined that there may be some direct impacts of these changes but the impact on health and wellbeing might not be the same for everyone. The changes will be reflected in the data which will be produced at the District or Borough level, ward level and for lower super output areas. Graham Evans added that ESiF will change in future to allow profiling to be undertaken at the local level which will include indicators that track the cost of living and benefits. The data available will include qualitative and quantitative information. Cllr O’Brien outlined that District councils hold some qualitative data from cost of living summits which could be provided to the Public Health team.

28.6     The Board questioned whether dementia should be included in the JSNA framework as it did not appear to be mentioned in it.

28.7     Darrell Gale acknowledged that dementia had been overlooked in the JSNA framework and confirmed that it will be amended to include dementia.

28.8     The Board commented that equalising life expectancy is seen as being a long-term goal and asked what progress there had been with short term and interim measures.

28.9     Darrell Gale outlined that as well as life expectancy it is also important to measure quality of life as well. There are some shorter-term markers in behavioural things regarding life expectancy, but there is more work to be done on these measures including at a national level such as the work of Marmot on inequalities and the life course model. There have been some recent changes in life expectancy graph in a downward direction (e.g. due to the impact of Covid and the impact on the health care system) and also some backward looking work. Graham Evans added that there is some work being carried out on healthy life expectancy based on the average age when people change from being in good health to not being in good health as a measure of quality of life. There is a statistic being developed on the amount of time people are in good health. There is some work being undertaken on the conditions that are likely to lead to people stating they are not in good health (e.g. diabetes, heart disease and chronic respiratory conditions) and this is being fed into the work of the Population Health, Prevention and Health Inequalities Steering Group.

28.10   Members of the Board commented that statutory guidance states that Healthwatch and members of the community should be involved in the development of the JSNA and asked for more detail on how that might happen.

28.11   Darrell Gale commented that part of the involvement of Healthwatch in the development of the JSNA is through Healthwatch’s membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board. The other areas are through the inclusion of Healthwatch’s work in the Needs Assessment and through consultation exercises that are carried out on the development of parts of the JSNA. There is also an ongoing process to look at how better Public Health can engage with the community and groups of residents, and particularly those who are not often heard from. The team is happy to work with Healthwatch on how better to engage with the community and include the work Healthwatch already undertakes through its engagement events.

28.12   Jessica Britton, Executive Director NHS Sussex commented that there is a really helpful integrated process for developing the JSNA. In terms of the point made about wider engagement it may be helpful for the East Sussex Health and Social Care System Partnership Board and the Population Health, Prevention and Health Inequalities Steering Group to consider this as part of the governance process for the development of the JSNA.

28.13   Darrell Gale confirmed that Public Health would be happy to include better engagement in the work of the East Sussex Health and Social Care System Partnership Board and the Population Health, Prevention and Health Inequalities Steering Group.

28.14   The Board RESOLVED to approve the JSNA refresh plans for 2023 and beyond.