Maidstone Borough Council

Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Kent Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy Consultation

Report of: Overview and Scrutiny officer

1.      Introduction

1.1    The Local Government Act 2000 and the Health and Social Care Act 2001 set out statutory functions for local authorities to review and scrutinise matters relating to the planning, provision and operation of health services in the area of its local authority.

1.2     The Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee has a broad remit which includes Health, Partnerships and Community Development.  The Chairman felt it important that the Committee

receive a presentation on the Kent Joint Health and Wellbeing Consultation, currently under consultation, to enable the Committee to make a response.

1.3     The Communities Overview and Scrutiny has recently responded to Kent Community Health NHS Trust’s Consultation on becoming a Community NHS Foundation Trust and received an update from the Clinical Chair of the West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to aid its understanding of the future commissioning of health services.  The Kent Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy will inform future commissioning decisions made by local people, especially GP led CCGs.  It is therefore of vital importance that the Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee seeks to fulfil its role by scrutinising a document which will impact on ‘the planning, provision and operation of health services in the area of its local authority’.

2.      Recommendation

2.1     The Committee is recommended to consider the presentation and verbal update given by Andrew Scott-Clark, Director of Health Improvement (Public Health) Kent County Council to enable its response to the consultation.

2.2        Areas of discussion could include but are not limited to:

·         West Kent’s position in terms of finance and resources in comparison to other areas of Kent and nationally;

·         The Strategy is at this stage called an engagement document – part of the development process for the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy - how will the responses received as part of the consultation be incorporated and developed as part of the final, adopted version?

·         Will the Strategy evolve as the needs of residents change, will there be a refresh of the document timetabled or will it be a ‘live’ document?

·         Mental Health is given precedence within the strategy and is included as Outcome 4: People with mental ill health issues are supported to ‘live well.’  Is it likely that mental health will become a more integral part of all health services in line with the Government mandate to the NHS Commissioning Board, published on 13 November 2012, working towards achieving true  ‘parity of esteem’ between mental health and physical care by 2015?

3.      Kent Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy

3.1    The Consultation on the Kent Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy began on 17 October 2012 and will commence on 23 November.

3.2    According to its online consultation page (http://consultations.kent.gov.uk/consult.ti/health/consultationHome) it will be consulting with the following organisations:

·         Kent County Council;

·         District or Borough Councils; and

·         NHS, including Kent Ambulance.

3.3    The District or Borough areas affected by the consultation are:

·         Ashford;

·         Canterbury;

·         Dartford;

·         Dover;

·         Gravesham;

·         Maidstone;

·         Sevenoaks;

·         Shepway;

·         Swale;

·         Thanet;

·         Tonbridge & Malling; and

·         Tunbridge Wells.

3.4    Responses to the consultation can be made online via the questionnaire or in an open response; by email or letter.

3.5    The draft Strategy (Appendix A) under consultation is described as “the first Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Kent. This overarching strategy aims to identify the health and social care outcomes that we want to achieve for the people of Kent. This document will set out the challenges we face, what we are going to do to address them and what we hope to see as a result. However, we need first to ensure that we are focussing on the right things for the people of Kent.”

3.6    Supporting information has been published alongside the consultation document which provides the context within which the strategy is produced (Appendix B).  A questionnaire is also available online to help facilitate responses to the consultation (Appendix C).

4.      Impact on Corporate Objectives

4.1     The Committee will consider reports that deliver against the     following Council priorities:

·       ‘For Maidstone to be a decent place to live.’

4.2     The Strategic Plan sets the Council’s key objectives for the medium   term and has a range of objectives which support the delivery of   the Council’s priorities.