Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Lynn Caffrey. Cllr Bernadette Oliphant, Cllr Michael McNestry Caroline O’Neill and Lisa Goodwin.

The minutes of the meeting held on the 22^nd October 2021 and the minutes of the informal meeting held on the 10^th December 2021 are attached for approval, together with the Action List

Members of the Board to declare an interest in any particular agenda item.

The Board received a presentation from the Director of Public Health entitled ‘Behind the Masks, Gateshead’s Covid Stores’.

The Annual Report set out the background to the key themes of report and highlighted the direct impact of Covid-19 on Gateshead people and how organisations, individuals and communities have gone above and beyond to respond to the challenges they have faced.

The report then focused on the impact of the pandemic on the six policy objectives set out in the ‘Marmot Review, Fair Society, Healthy Lives (2010) and adopted by the ‘Gateshead Health and Wellbeing Strategy: Good jobs, homes, health and friends’.

Rather than setting out traditional recommendations, the report concludes with a number of lessons from our Gateshead Covid stories:

Lesson 1 – we must continue to prioritise the policy objectives set out in our Health and Wellbeing Strategy (published February 2020). Our Covid stories have shown us that, while they may be more challenging than ever, they remain the key areas to tackle so we can reduce levels of inequality and alter the circumstances that lead to inequality.

Lesson 2 – we must continue to take action on poverty at every opportunity. We must make sure that the services that provide advice and support to those in the communities of place and interest, who have been most affected by the pandemic, receive the resources that they need to mitigate the damage that poverty brings. This means we will have to do different things in different places striving for equity and not equality.

Lesson 3 – children and young people have experienced significant disruption to their lives at key stages in their development. Supporting children, young people and families to make up ground lost in the pandemic as soon as possible, is critical to preventing problems being stored up for generations to come. We need a focus on how we support our children and young people to recover. Our response will need to be differentiated by the stage of life.

Lesson 4 – there must be an increased focus on preventable action across all our services. In particular, we need to consider how we support mental health and well-being in all our services and at all levels. The long term consequences of the pandemic for the health of the local population will take time to be fully understood but it is already evident that there has been a negative impact on many people’s mental health. Health behaviours including physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking are also early areas to address.

Lesson 5 – we must engage communities in developing the solutions – enabling people to maximise their capabilities and have control of their lives is, as we know, part of the solution. We must work with communities to hear and understand the things that matter to them and what works for them. During Covid-19, we’ve seen how successful this approach has been in making information and support accessible and relevant to different communities.

Lesson 6 – we need to  ...  view the full minutes text for item HW304

The Board received a report and presentation which provided an update on the range of work being conducted by Healthwatch Gateshead.

It was reported that Healthwatch Gateshead have used the domains within the Healthwatch England (HWE) Quality Framework. This tool has been developed to support local Healthwatch to take stock and make improvements and to help local councils in their commissioning and monitoring of Healthwatch. The domains are:

·        Leadership and decision-making

·        People

·        Sustainability and resilience

·        Collaboration

·        Engagement, Involvement & Reach

·        Influence & Impact

The presentation set out details of what Healthwatch have been doing over the last year, how it has gone about its work, the people it has engaged with, what it has learned from the work undertaken and how this will feed into its future work going forward. This included case studies which set out how Healthwatch responded to people who got in contact with them or were referred to them e.g. by Gateshead CAB.

The report concluded by looking ahead and next steps. It was noted that Healthwatch wants to develop its role in making Gateshead a place where everyone thrives by:

• Amplifying the voice and experiences of health and social care for those

  people and communities facing the greatest inequalities

• Improving understanding of people’s experiences as health and social  

  care are further integrated

• Collaborating to increase our reach and collective impact

The Board received an update on the current situation within Gateshead regarding the COVID-19 response and vaccine update.

Dr Mark Dornan provided the Board with an update from the system and will circulate the slides after the meeting.

None

Child of the North – building a fairer future after COVID-19 & Community Care article (Child Poverty)

The Chair asked that it be formally recorded in the minutes, their thanks and appreciation to Caroline O’Neill for her service to the Council as she will be leaving the Council shortly. The Board wished her well for the future.

The Board also congratulated James Duncan on becoming the new Chief Executive of CNTW.