Agenda item

19.1     Vicky Smith, Programme Director, East Sussex Health and Social Care Transformation, presented an update on the East Sussex Health and Social Care Shared Delivery Plan (SDP) Integration Programme. Progress on the SDP priorities in quarter 1 included the development of Integrated Community Teams (ICTs), work being progressed on multi-disciplinary teams, and the use of a new risk tool to identify individuals at risk of hospital admission. The report also outlined the discussions at the recent informal Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) session on the JSNA theme of reducing health inequalities and measuring the impact of collaborative work on population health and wellbeing, which Vicky confirmed would feed into the forthcoming HWB strategy refresh in 2026.

19.2     Vicky noted the successful East Sussex submission to the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, focussed on Hastings and Rother as part of the broader approach to ICTs and which provided an opportunity to develop joint plans to commission and deliver a sustainable model for neighbourhood health services. The report outlined the new planning framework for NHS England, including 5-year ICB strategic commissioning plan and NHS provider delivery plans, and Vicky emphasised the role of the HWB in developing a new neighbourhood health plan as part of this framework.

19.3     The Chair thanked Vicky for the report and acknowledged the scale of change and the importance of maintaining services.

19.4     Ashley Scarff, Director of Joint Commissioning and ICT Development (East Sussex), NHS Sussex, thanked Vicky for the report and welcomed the news of the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme which will focus initially on Hastings and Rother. Ashely noted the ambitious programme around neighbourhood health and the development of ICTs in East Sussex and said that learning from Hastings and Rother would be used to strengthen ICTs across Sussex. Ashley emphasised the HWB’s leadership role in planning for and meeting the population needs of East Sussex which was demonstrated through the discussions at the informal HWB sessions.

19.5     Mark Stainton reiterated that learning from the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme would be shared across East Sussex. He noted the successful rollout of the Johns Hopkins Risk Stratification Tool into all GP practices, which would be a key focus of the Programme. Mark clarified that while the £10 million investment would be retained centrally, local systems would be expected to use their own resources to deliver the programme.

19.6     Councillor Ballard raised concerns about smoking as a key driver of health inequalities. Mark Stainton confirmed that ICTs had a 20-30% flexibility in funding to tailor interventions to local needs and noted smoking cessation as a priority in Hastings as an example. There were plans for a “Making Every Contact Count” approach across health and care professionals as an opportunity to raise awareness of public health initiatives, including smoking cessation.

19.7     Stephen Lightfoot stressed the importance of place-based governance and the HWB’s central role in this. He noted health inequalities and disparities in healthy life expectancy across the county and the need to ensure resourcing for ICTs to provide targeted interventions to address local issues. The success of these initiatives would likely be seen over the long term, and consideration was needed as to how short-term progress would be measured.

19.8     Councillor Jobson raised access issues for disabled residents in Hastings, citing limited disabled bays to access the local pharmacy for residents on Bohemia Road, and suggested an audit of disabled bays. Vicky commented on the importance of partnership working at a community level to address these issues, including monitoring via dashboards, and the development of the joint management structure to lead ICTs at the level of frontline delivery in communities.

19.9     The Board RESOLVED to:

1.     note the progress in quarter 1 for the East Sussex HWB Shared Delivery Plan (SDP) priorities and plans in 25/26 as set out in Appendix 1;

2.     agree the outcomes from the informal HWB development session on reducing health inequalities and measuring the impact of our work as a health and care system, as set out in the summary briefing note contained in Appendix 2;

3.     endorse the successful submission from East Sussex to be part of the Government’s National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, and our collective delivery of the programme starting in September 25 focussed on Hastings and Rother; and

4.     endorse the HWB’s leadership role in supporting the development of the new neighbourhood health plan, in line with further guidance that is expected from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS England (NHSE), and aligning with the 5-year organisation plans for the NHS.