Agenda item

Presentation by Miles Crompton, Policy and Partnership Officer, Rotherham MBC

Consideration was given to a report, presented by Miles Crompton (Policy and Partnerships Officer, RMBC) concerning the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA).  The report stated that the Health and Wellbeing Board has a statutory duty to evidence the needs of  people in Rotherham and the JSNA assessment underpins health and social care commissioning, service development and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The JSNA was refreshed as a new online resource in 2013, replacing the former fixed document format of 2011. After a period of consultation, the Health and Wellbeing Board had approved the final version of the JSNA in February 2014. The revised JSNA was used to inform the new Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2015-18. 

The new JSNA format allows for updates of information so that the content is continually evolving in response to new data becoming available, or additional content being required. Contributors from a range of service areas have been asked to provide any updates required, on a quarterly basis.

The JSNA was subject to a review in 2015/16 which added a new overview of issues identified in the JSNA and made presentational changes to make it easier to find information about children and adults, and better understand the JSNA process.

The presentation and subsequent discussion about the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment highlighted the following salient issues:-

-          implications of the Health and Social Care Act 2012;

-          noting that the Joint Strategic Intelligence Assessment is an entirely separate process, prepared by the South Yorkshire Police and the Safer Rotherham Partnership;

-          the early JSNA format had concentrated upon adult social care, although the revised document now encompasses a much wider range of issues (e.g.: domestic violence; transport, etc.);

-          the JSNA includes 82 separate issues, catalogued into seven different categories;

-          the emphasis upon issues affecting children and young people (eg: teenage pregnancy; smoking in pregnancy; Children in Need and living in poverty; disability and mental health);

-          the specific issue of the oral health of young children (including tooth decay) – the Board noted that the statistics appeared to be in need of updating, as there was now evidence of an improving pattern being made in terms of children’s oral health; it was also noted that there is no fluoridation of the water supply in the Rotherham Borough area);

-          the prevalence of long-term sickness absence amongst the adult working population;

-          the current life expectancy of women (81 years) and men (78 years) living in the Rotherham Borough area; the population aged over 80 years is increasing by 4% per year; the consequent demand on adult social care services;

-          ethnic diversity in the Rotherham Borough area;

-          the demand for food banks is increasing; some supermarkets are donating food to the food banks, in order to try and reduce the amount of food waste where the food is still fit for consumption.

It was agreed that copies of the presentation will be distributed to members of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the Health and Wellbeing Board:-

(a) acknowledges that service-based contributors are being asked to provide any updates to the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment on a quarterly basis;  and

(b) agrees that the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment will be subject to further review during 2016/17.