Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies were received from Cllr Whitehead and Cllr Keen for whom Cllr Scobie was present.

There were no declarations of interest.

Update led by Madeline Homer.

Madeline Homer, Chief Executive, gave the following update to members:

·  EK WHIP is a collaboration of the 5 EK local authorities incl. KCC Public Health and the CCG.

·  The purpose is to create programmes of work to support the health and wellbeing agenda.

·  Previous success was noted regarding delivering an anti-smoking agenda.

·  There are two task and finish groups: The EK Health Inequalities Plan and Workplace Health in Local Authorities.

·  This partnership is about delivering activities on the ground.

The report was noted.

Discussion led by Madeline Homer.

Madeline Homer gave the following update to this group, in addition to the information shared publicly by TDC:

·  Vaccines are being delivered to the four most at risk groups of the population as set out by the government.

·  There are discussions happening regarding the possibility of a mass vaccination site in Thanet. It is expected that this would be in the Westwood Cross area and not a drive-through centre.

Members then raised the following concerns:

·  The impact of Covid-19 on QEQM and the rest of the health service in Thanet.

·  How TDC plans to re-open to the public in a safe way once lockdown is eased.

Responding to Member comments, Ms Homer advised as follows:

·  Information from the NHS is more difficult to source due to the pressure they are under but this will be looked into and shared with members.

·  TDC have been active in advising and supporting businesses with Covid-19 restrictions since the enrolment of ambassadors and enforcement teams in the first lockdown and will continue this work.

·  Legislation from the government often varies and can be very confusing. TDC is committed to helping business owners understand and follow rules and guidance.

The report was noted.

Discussion led by Cllr Whitehead.

Cllr Whitehead sent her apologies so this item will be moved to a future agenda.

Discussion led by Cllr Whitehead.

Cllr Whitehead sent her apologies so this item will be moved to a future agenda.

Postponing the two previous agenda items meant that the meeting was running ahead of schedule. Karen Sharpe, Programme Director for EKICP, was due to join the meeting and present at 12:10pm. The meeting was adjourned until that time.

Introduction from EKICP Programme Director, Karen Sharp.

Karen Sharp, Programme Director for EKICP, presented the report and made the following points:

·  The ICP is not a statutory being - However, it is expected that this is the direction of travel for the NHS and legislation will come in to formalise the ICP set-up.

·  The ICP is a coalition of partnership organisations across social care, health, and most recently, the District Council.

·  The EKICP has three main reporting groups:

- Prevention, self-care and community connection through WHIP.

- Clinicians leading on and defining the priorities for the partnership.

- Information from hospitals through the A&E delivery board and other partners.

·  Supporting these areas is an Improvement board whose aim is to bring cohesion to these groups and improve pathways.

·  The partnership will start by having a forward planning session (February) to work to group together priorities and get the maximum impact.

·  EKICP is looking forward to working together with the District Council and connecting projects to improve service delivery.

Questions were posed as follows:

·  Acknowledging the difficulty of recruitment of professionals in the Health Service, how might this be addressed and is there any Government funding to help with this?

·  Would the EKICP be looking at the health of younger residents, they don’t appear to be represented in the current plan?

·  Obesity is an issue for all the population, particularly in more deprived areas. We need to improve the quality of housing, particularly social and affordable housing. What provisions do we have for personal and social care - is that a KCC issue?

Karen Sharpe responded:

·  There is a Kent & Medway workforce plan to address recruitment. However, we also want to get the narrative right for this area and think creatively to make working in this area more attractive.

·  The forward planning session will be looking at need and child services will certainly be included.

·  Obesity is becoming the biggest challenge for the NHS. EKICP are working with KCC and the EK District Councils to bring in community programmes to combat obesity and plan to use social prescribing to focus this work going forward. Penny Button added that TDC has the Active Thanet system in place as a good basis for this work.

·  Covid has accelerated the work between health and social care due to necessity with managing the flow of patients out of hospital. This in turn has built on partnership work and social care remains an integral part of the EKICP.

Members noted the update.

Review of the action points from the last THWP meeting on 5 November 2020, document attached.

Carol Cook, Policy Officer, updated members on a project to target high Covid areas that was an action point from the Health & Wellbeing Partnership:

·  TDC worked with local GPs and texted people in areas with a high rate of Covid.

·  The project was challenging but Drs were keen to work together with TDC.

·  Unfortunately, negative responses from the public halted proceedings as this added pressure and workload for the GP surgeries.

Penny Button, Director of Neighbourhoods, updated members on the fuel poverty schemes:

·  Have received funding from KCC and are in the process of allocating that in the following ways:

-  Working to support those experiencing fuel poverty by topping up fuel cards and keys remotely.

-  Working with housing on the provision of useful supplies such as bedding etc. for those in need.

-  It is expected that those paying by direct debit may find themselves in fuel poverty due to the fact that incomes have dropped with furlough and people are spending more time in their houses. We cannot give money, but are looking at a scheme to off-set with food vouchers etc.

Members noted the document and the updates.