Agenda item

Community Wellbeing Commissioning Strategy

(To receive a report by David Stacey, Programme Manager (Strategy and Performance) which provides the Committee with details of the current Community Wellbeing Commissioning Strategy 2017-2020)

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which provided the Committee with an opportunity to provide feedback on the current Community Wellbeing Commissioning Strategy 2017 – 2020.  It was reported that the purpose of this commissioning strategy was to improve and protect the health and wellbeing of the people in Lincolnshire.  It was thought this could be best achieved when people were supported to be independent, make healthier choices and live healthier lives.

 

Members were advised that this was the strategy that was currently in existence and officers would value the views of the Committee of how it could be changed over the next 12 months, for example, what was useful in the current strategy and what may be useful in the future.

 

In terms of the actions in the current strategy, all actions were either in progress or nearing completion.  A conversation had also commenced regarding understanding what the core duties were and what could be delivered by the authority, and what services were bought in.

 

Members were provided with an opportunity to ask questions to the officers present regarding the information contained within the report and some of the points raised included the following:

·         It was queried whether large companies could be engaged with more to promote wellbeing initiatives to their staff.  It was commented that large supermarkets such as Tesco had engaged with the authority in the past.

·         It was commented that there were a lot of facilities within communities, such as village halls, and there was a need to connect and engage with these facilities in order to make better use of them.

·         It was noted that the Director of Public Health had spoken with the Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Co-op regarding the flu jabs for staff, and they had picked up the co-ordination of the county wide programme.  It was noted that this scheme was a payment by outcome, and therefore it did not matter where someone would get their flu jab.  It was believed that this approach provided better services for the people of Lincolnshire.

·         It was queried whether there was evidence to show that smoking e-cigarettes made a difference to smoking rates and a person's health.  It was noted that if someone who smoked traditional cigarettes completely switched to e-cigarettes there was a significant reduction in risk.  However, the best option was still to stop smoking completely.  It was reported that smoking prevalence across the country had dropped significantly, however there were still comparatively high levels of smoking in Lincolnshire.  It was not possible at this time to answer whether the use of e-cigarettes was reducing the smoking rate.

·         It was suggested that there was a need to speak with United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust regarding enforcing their ban on smoking at the entrance to hospitals, and it was thought that this was one area where staff could lead by example.

·         It was noted that one of the areas being picked up was obesity and physical activity, and a member of staff had been seconded to start conversations with facilities such as Louth swimming pool about the classes they could offer, as it was noted that all would offer slightly different activities.

·         There was also work to be done on how the County Council could work more closely with districts and the Director of Public Health would be attending the Lincolnshire Chief Executives meeting to examine how engagement could be further improved.

·         CCG's spent £1.1bn on NHS health services in Lincolnshire.

·         It was commented that this should not necessarily be about offering everything for free, as if people had to pay for some of the services e.g. fitness classes, they would be more likely to continue attending.  It was agreed that there was a psychological aspect to this.  It was also noted that when schemes had been opened up so that attendees could 'bring a friend' then this also showed an increase in completion rates for a programme.

·         It was commented that in evening classes, it had been noted that those people who did not have to pay were the first to leave the course.

·         There was a need for more low key exercise classes and activities for elderly residents.

·         It was suggested that it was more effective to build exercise into daily life by increasing walking for example, rather than by setting aside time to go to the gym.  It was suggested that communities should be encouraged to set up walking groups.

·         There was a need to ensure careful scheduling of community activities to ensure they did not clash with things such as parish council meetings.

·         It was suggested that there was a need to engage with community group leaders on how to ensure the continuity of their group and how to incorporate new members.

·         It was noted that the need for activities within care homes had been included within the residential contract.  It was also suggested that care homes should be encouraged to become engaged with their local community.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the content of the current Community Wellbeing Commissioning Strategy be noted.

2.    That the following feedback be provided to the Council's Executive:

Ø  Benefits of engaging with district councils, businesses and others to support approached to wellbeing;

Ø  Importance of making use of the County's assets, as part of a mixed economy supporting healthy lifestyle behaviours;

Ø  Creativity around charging policies to encourage take up

Ø  The importance of community groups developing and supporting healthy activities.

Supporting documents:

 

 
 
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