Agenda item

Nicola Curley and Jason Page to present

Board Sponsors Jason Page, Medical Director for Rotherham Place (ICB) and Nicola Curley, Strategic Director of Children’s and Young People’s Services presented an update on the progress of Aim 1, all children get the best start in life and go on to achieve their potential, with the aid of the following PowerPoint presentation:

 

Alignment of the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) priorities with Rotherham’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy-

•         Context for children’s health was very similar in both strategies:

?    Focused of both strategies on health inequalities and the impact of physical, commercial and socio-economic determinants on children’s health.

?    Housing, social networks, education and poverty

?    Impact of the pandemic on children’s mental health.

•         Focus of health areas were very similar:

?    1001 days, parental health, mental health and oral health.

?    Children’s development, development of healthy habits (physical activity and healthy eating).

•         The main difference was the focus on the South Yorkshire strategy on school readiness, which was not a major focus of the Rotherham Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This was also the focus of the ICP Strategy’s Bold Ambition, the area where more could be achieved by working together across South Yorkshire:

?    Focused on development in early years so that every child in South Yorkshire would be school ready.

?    Raising the level of school readiness in South Yorkshire and closing the gap in those achieving a good level of development, between those on free school meals and all children by 25% by 2028 to 2030.

 

Rotherham’s strategic priorities for children’s health and wellbeing-

•         Aim 1, All children get the best start in life and go on to achieve their potential:

?    Develop the approach to give every child the best start in life.

?    Support children and young people to develop well.

 

Context and cross-cutting activities-

•         School age population had increased between 2011 and 2021, the number of children aged 0-4 had decreased from 15,738 in 2011 to 14,645 in 2021 (a 7% reduction).

•         The percentage of children living in poverty in Rotherham was higher than regional and England averages, with an estimated 17,700 children and young people aged 0-15 living in families whose income was less than 60% of the median income (2021).

•         Cross-cutting activities since last year:

?    Development and implementation of ‘Best Start and Beyond’ framework.

?    Mobilisation and launch of the 0-19 Service, with a universal offer to support all children and young people and their families, with an enhanced offer for those that needed it, ensuring that there was equality across the service.

 

Strategic Priority 1, develop our approach to give every child the best start in life-

•         The first 1001 days (from conception to age 2) was widely recognised as a crucial period. Too many children in Rotherham were not currently getting the best start in life due to differing life chances.

•         Key actions to deliver on this priority:

?    Develop and publish the Start for Life Offer (first 1001 days), through implementation of Best Start and Beyond Framework.

 

Working towards formal ratification of ‘Breastfeeding Borough’ Declaration-

•         The Rotherham Breast Feeding Friendly Borough (BFFB) Declaration was given further endorsement by the Health and Wellbeing Board in June.

•         In August, the Declaration was signed by representatives of the Council, the Trust and Public Health at a launch event, which was combined with the launch of the Trust’s ‘Rotherham Backs Breastfeeding” campaign. The number of trained midwives in division of tongue tie (‘frenotomy’) had been increased, and the feasibility of providing a clinic in Rotherham to deliver the procedure was being explored.

 

Strategic Priority 2, support children and young people to develop well (1)-

•         Key factors impacting on children’s health included socio-economic factors, housing, social networks, and education.

•         Childhood was an important time in the development of behaviours that would have a lifelong influence on health and wellbeing, including healthy eating.

Key areas of focus include-

•         Develop and agree a prevention-led approach to children and young people’s healthy weight with partners, building on evidence from the compassionate approach:

?    Rotherham’s approach would promote health gains for all people, without stigma or judgement, and considers the wider context of their lives.

•         Continue to support children and young people’s Mental Health and wellbeing, along with schools, health and voluntary sector:

?    CAMHs LAC pathway would be in place.

?    Mental health support in early years was co-ordinated by the Child Development Centre. Family hubs based in Children’s Centres presented an opportunity to further develop the mental health support for children and families.

?    With Me In Mind (Rotherham’s Mental Health Support Team delivery) started in 2019, three teams covered thirty-nine identified settings and approximately 24,000 pupils.

 

Strategic Priority 2: Support children and young people to develop well (2)-

•         Key areas of progress:

?    Develop proposals for multi-agency Family Hubs model of service delivery in Children’s Centres

?    Continue to jointly deliver the SEND Written Statement of Action, jointly led by LA and ICB and with local area partners.

?  Continue to focus on improving early years take-up in targeted areas of Rotherham (Central) to have wider holistic benefit on key development measures.

 

Areas to address and next steps-

•         Work with the LMS to ensure continuity of carer would be the default model by March 2024:

?    The national target for Continuity of Care had been removed, so local activity had refocused on a local transformation programme. The service had embedded phase one and two of the Maternity Workforce Transformation model.

?    The next steps whilst maintaining safe staffing in all areas would be the delivery of the 3 Year Delivery plan for Maternity and neonatal service, which aimed to make care safer, more personalised, and more equitable through the delivery of four high level themes.

 

Areas to address and next steps-

•         Proposed new actions for Aim 1 Action Plan:

?    Further implementation of Breastfeeding Friendly Borough Declaration and ‘Rotherham Backs Breastfeeding Campaign’.

?    Evaluation of pilot new universal health visit at three to four months.

?    Further developing the ‘Giving your child the best start in life’ resource (Start for Life Offer), and producing a printed resource for new parents.

 

An emergent action plan-

•         Ongoing work, which could lead to actions to be added to the plan during the year ahead:

?    Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

?    Gestational weight gain in pregnancy.

?    ‘Smokefree Generation’.

?    Mini-needs assessment for young people and drugs and alcohol.

?    Cost of living support for families.

 

Discussion ensued on the presentation with the following issues raised and/or clarified:

•         The Breastfeeding launch in summer was very successful and well attended. RDASH were looking for additional volunteers.

•         There would be a presentation on foetal alcohol syndrome at January’s Health and Wellbeing Board meeting.

•         The Government had issued £300,000 in funding for the next two years to assist with the reduction of smoking in Rotherham.

•         The national funding issued for mental health in schools would end in 2025. It was noted that this was a risk to be kept under review in 2024.

•         Persistent non-attendance in schools was a challenge and concern nationally, this challenge was being addressed through a strong programme.

•         The school attendance matters pathway had been commended by the Department of Education as excellent practise.

•         A Local School Attendance Strategy would be drafted in January 2024, working together with partners and colleagues across the education and school sector.

•         A big proportion of non-attendance in schools was due to children going on holidays during term time; there was work underway to promote changes in behaviour from parents regarding this issue.

•         There is ongoing work to address health inequalities, poverty and deprivation across the Borough. The Local Authority was very conscious of issues regarding damp and mould and work was continuing in this area.

•         There was an NHS England Health Equalities Day held recently where poverty and the cost-of-living crisis was discussed.

 

Resolved: - That the Health and Wellbeing Board:

1)    Noted the update on the work undertaken.