Agenda and minutes

There were no Declarations of Interest made at the meeting.

There were no members of the public or press present at the meeting and no questions had been submitted in advance of the meeting.

The Chair congratulated Chris Edwards on his recent appointment as Place Director for Rotherham and the SYICB Deputy Chief Executive.

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board were considered.

Arising from Minute No. 46 (Housing Strategy), it was noted that the Strategy was still in the consultation phase.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the previous meeting held on 26th January, 2022, be approved as a true record.

Laura Gough to present

Laura Gough, Head of Safeguarding Quality and Practice, gave a powerpoint presentation on the Rotherham Safeguarding Children Partnership (RSCP) Annual Assurance report for October, 2020-September, 2021.  The report provided a summary of assurance that the RSCP had sought to keep children and families safe in line with statutory guidance.  The key priorities were:-

-    Safe at Home

-    Safe in the Community

-    Safe Safeguarding Systems

The key focus throughout 2020-21 was on:-

-        Ensuring that the Partnership response to the Covid-19 pandemic effectively safeguarded children both at strategic and operational level, regular senior leadership meetings and development of the operational Vulnerable Children’s Group being an example of good practice of which came the baby clinic

-        Developing the governance framework, assurance work of the Executive Group and Delivery Groups to strengthen accountability e.g. serious child safeguarding incidents, notification of and local Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews

-        Better cross-agency scrutiny, constructive challenge and multi-agency audit work

-        Launch of revised Neglect Strategy

-        Independent scrutiny delivered through the role of RSCP Independent Chair, external inspection and Peer Review

Key assurance sought around

-    Children in Education especially for those who became EHE (Electively Home Educated) (where a large increase in numbers had been seen) or who were missing from education

-    Adequacy of CAMHS provision – large increase in the number of children with mental health issues and especially eating disorders exposed a shortage of TIER 4 beds and long waiting lists for treatment

-    Ensuring CSE/CE work was continuing and effective

-    Multi-agency Safeguarding and Self-Assessment challenge sessions were facilitated jointly with practitioners from both Adult and Children’s Services

What is working well

-        Governance and ownership across 3 key partners – CCG, RMBC and SYP – this has evolved and strengthened over the last year

-        Wider engagement and willingness of safeguarding partners to work together including Public Health and Adult Services

-        Safeguarding Awareness Week

-        Child Death Overview Processes (CDOP)

What we need to do more of

-    Embed neglect awareness across the whole of Adult and Children agendas

-    Ensure that all agencies understand the Early Help Pathways to access family support and how to undertake Early Help Assessments

-    CE/CSE – ensure that all agencies understand and were alert to the signs that might indicate that adults/children they worked with may be at risk of criminal or sexual exploitation and how to share information through the right channels

-    Ensure continued effective and joined up leadership across the whole Safeguarding agenda especially as family/fuel poverty and hardship increases and impacts on family lives

Discussion ensued with the following issues raised/clarified:-

·        The Vulnerable Child Partnership Group, chaired by the Head of Service who managed the Front Door, and also attended by representatives of Early Help, had provided an invaluable forum for problem solving and planning for vulnerable groups of children during the pandemic and lockdown periods

·        The parents of children that were Electively Home Educated had to make sure there were arrangements in place in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

Presentation by Mike Niles, letsbfriend

Mike Niles, B:friend, gave the following powerpoint presentation:-

-        2017 Charity launched out of a garage in Doncaster

-        2018 Received National Lottery funding

-        2019 Project expanded across the whole of South Yorkshire

-        2020 Covid-19 increased demand more than ever seen before

-        Present Now created over 1,700 befriending pairings

Befriending – Principles

-        Cuppa and chat each week

-        Face-to-face

-        Local

-        Friend rather than volunteer

-        A good match is not just about shared interests

-        People feel safe and can ‘be themselves’

-        No such thing as the ‘perfect pairing’

-        Promote power symmetry

-        Opportunities for neighbours to demonstrate their skills and value

-        Establish clear boundaries

-        Aim for positive endings: onward referral or repairs

Social Club – Principles

-        A key strand of intervention

-        Unique sessions

-        Each week was different

-        Rooted in theory

-        Focussed on the Five Ways to Wellbeing model

-        Members felt safe and could ‘be themselves’

-        Promote shared identity and what people had in common

-        Activities were fun and purposeful

-        Opportunities for members to demonstrate their skills and value

-        Actively encourage co-designed sessions

-        Anti-ageism zone: acceptance of everyone

Some Numbers

-        305 befriend pairings made

-        182 social bundles created and delivered

-        64 partner organisations worked with

-        384 social club sessions delivered

-        180 telephone social club sessions

-        873 total number of older neighbours supported

-        26% attrition rate

-        7,680 cups of tea/coffee made

-        114 legacy pairings confirmed

-        18,825 volunteer hours (total)

Since we started

-        725 current befriend pairings (average increase of 257% per year) (last year was 1% increase)

-        873 current older neighbours being reached (average increase of 196% per year) (last year was 28%)

How we compared last year

-        114 South London Cares

-        66 North London Cares

-        30 Liverpool Cares

-        280 Time to Talk Befriending

-        40 SCCCC

-        305 b:friend

Social Value Add

-        According to the Social Value Engine tool, every £1 invested in the project returns £8.20 in social value add.  The result was compound impact over time

Defining Principles

-        No-one should have no one

-        We facilitate meaningful community connections to transform an individual’s value of themselves, reduce their feeling of loneliness and develop agency to enable someone to build resilience in later life

-        Our befriending project will always be free at the point of delivery.  We never charge for friendship and always prioritise face-to-face: in person and in the community

-        We strive to reduce social isolation and improve wellbeing for older people and young people alike by creating opportunities for community togetherness

-        We reject any form of discrimination and always act decisively to instances of prejudice

-        We bring people together to dilute division created by age, heritage, digital skills and attitudinal divides

-        Activity was equitable and collaborative.  We consult older neighbours when making decisions and only accept voluntary contributions to ensure anyone can participate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

Presentation by Ben Anderson, Director of Public Health

Ben Anderson, Director of Public Health, presented the Annual Report 2022 which had concentrated on understanding the impact of Covid-19 in Rotherham March, 2020-January, 2022:-

Section 1 - Covid-19 in Rotherham (as at 31^st January 2022)

-        2^nd March, 2020 – first case of Covid-19 confirmed in Rotherham

-        20^th March, 2020 – first death within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test in Rotherham

-        79,615 Covid-19 infections officially recorded in Rotherham (of which 3,739 were possible reinfections)

-        992 deaths with Covid-19 recorded as a cause of death on the death certificate in Rotherham

-        547,994 doses of Covid-19 vaccine provided in Rotherham

-        85.7% of eligible people in Rotherham (aged 12 and over) had received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine

Inequities and Covid-19

Deprivation

-        Mortality rates in the most deprived areas in England were more than double those in the least deprived areas as of April 2021

-        Rotherham was ranked 44^th most deprived authority in England making it amongst the 14% most deprived local authority area in England

Health

-        Covid-19 related morbidity and mortality was higher in people with underlying conditions including diabetes, obesity, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dementia and hypertensive diseases

-        All of these conditions were more prevalent in Rotherham than in all England

Employment

-        A relatively high proportion of the Rotherham population was employed in work that has a high risk of exposure to Covid-19 i.e. jobs which cannot be done from home, required working in close physical proximity to others, lower grade occupations and jobs disproportionately performed by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people

Section 2 – Covid-19 and the individual

Physical and Mental Health

-        Physical Activity and Healthy Weight

·        Reduced activity levels: 32% of the local adult population was inactive from May, 2020-May, 2021 (an increase of 2.6%) vs 28% nationally

·        Increased sedentary behaviour and inactivity expected to result in a ‘deconditioning’ effect

·        Nationally, large increase in % of Reception and Year 6 children who were overweight/obese.  Expect this trend to be replicated in Rotherham where 27% of Reception aged children were obese before the pandemic)

·        Further widening of inequalities in obesity expected.

-        Mental Health

·        Young people in Rotherham reported a decline in overall mental health and increased levels of anxiety, stress, boredom and feeling sad/low in June 2021 as compared to the beginning of the pandemic

·        The pandemic heightened loneliness leading to a high volume of referrals for befriending support

·        Rotherham carers reported elevated levels of anxiety, isolation, worry and physical exhaustion during the pandemic

·        Suicide rates – initially fell slightly but still remain significantly higher than for all England.  January 2022 had seen a rise with 7 suicides reported, the highest number since 2019

Tobacco

-        Increase in successful attempt to quit in 2020/21

-        Some indications of a significant overall reduction in smoking

-        Increase in smoking prevalence amongst younger adults (18-21 years) and older teenagers

-        Possible exacerbation of inequalities in smoking prevalence between  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Amanda Raven, RMBC, to report.

Due to the unavailability of the presenting officer, this item was deferred to a future meeting.

Presentation by Kathryn Singh, RDaSH

Due to the unavailability of the presenting officer, this item was deferred to a future meeting.

Leonie Wieser, Policy Officer, presented the action plan highlighting the activity taking place.

It was planned to submit the 2022/25 action plan to the September Board meeting.  Aim sponsors were requested to consider which/if any action needed to be rolled over to the new plan.

Resolved:- That the update be noted.

Presented by Chris Edwards, Rotherham Clinical Commissioning Group

The Board noted the update submitted.

Chris Edwards, Chief Operating Officer RCCG, reported that the Bill was currently going through Parliament with the expected plan for the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board to commence on 1^st July with hopefully a smooth transition from the CCG to the Rotherham Place Team.

Resolved:-  That the update be noted.

Sharon Kemp, Chief Executive, to report.

Ben Anderson, Director of Public Health, gave the following verbal update on the recent activities of the Engagement Board:-

-        Discussions on the Living with Covid Strategy

-        A number of local activities had now stopped with more to cease at the end of the month

-        Contact Tracing finished on 24^th February with the team now stood down.  They would support the vaccination programme until the end of June as well as supporting some of the community/business engagement on how to live safely with Covid

-        Community asymptomatic and symptomatic testing would cease at the end of the month resulting in a different position with accessing tests and knowing the results.  The rate had increased to 310 persons per 100,000

-        It was important that the Public Health guidance to isolate if you had symptoms/a positive test continued to be pushed out to members of the public

The Board would be meeting later that week where discussion would take place as to its future operation.

It was noted that as of 15^th March, there had been 49 positive patients in Rotherham District General Hospital; at the peak of the first wave there had been 72.

Resolved:-  That the report be noted.

There were no issues to report.

The Board noted the Place Plan priorities as at the end of Quarter 2.

The minutes of the Rotherham ICP Place Board held on 3^rd November, 2021, and 2^nd February, 2022, were noted.

Wednesday,  22^nd June, 2022,

                     21^st September

                     23^rd November

                     25^th January, 2023

                     22^nd March

commencing at 9.00 a.m. venue to be confirmed

Resolved:-  That meetings of the Health and Wellbeing Board be held during 2022/23 as follows:-

Wednesday, 22^nd June, 2022

                     21^st September

                     23^rd November

                     25^th January, 2023

                     22^nd March

all commencing at 9.00 a.m. venue to be confirmed.