Meeting documents

To consider a report by the Acting Director of Public Health.

(Councillor Jill Haynes (Dorset County Council) declared an interest in the minute below as Dorset Health and Wellbeing Board's representative on the Primary Care Commissioning Committee.)

The Joint Board considered a report by the Acting Director of Public Health which  outlined progress within the main Public Health commissioned programmes.

Drug and Alcohol Service

Members noted that the Pan-Dorset Drug and Alcohol Service was running well within a reduced budget and the effects of recent system wide changes on the Governance Board had led to it proposing to stop meeting and to cover off other governance functions as set out in the report.  It was proposed that member oversight of future performance would be carried out by the Joint Board on a six monthly basis, with the first report being considered at the next meeting. The Lead Commissioner Group would continue dealing with operational questions and ongoing service development.

Members who sat on the Governance Board agreed that its work was reducing and  that meetings should stop.

Sexual Health

It was explained that the contract for Sexual Health Services had been awarded to Dorset Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.  The next step would be to mobilise and integrate these services to deliver the ongoing saving requirement.  It was recommended that other community provider contracts now be reviewed to fully integrate sexual health service provision.

Members asked that future reports give a breakdown of areas included in budgets.  This was agreed.

Health Improvement and Health Checks

Members noted that the Livewell Dorset Service had been brought back in house from 1 April 2018 and the website was now live.  However, the Health Check area had been an ongoing focus for some time and its future provision was being considered.  It was suggested that a proposed service model be drawn up and a report on next steps in procurement be provided for consideration by the Joint Board at its September 2018 meeting.

Members, whilst supporting the Health Check process, were aware of how difficult this was to put into practice, and wanted to see evidence of their impact and whether they provided value for money.  They recounted their own personal experience of Health Checks and that some GP practices were undertaking them but not necessarily reporting this.  

In response it was explained that it was a national requirement for eligible residents to be invited for a Health Check each year over a five year period.  Issues of patient confidentiality and data protection made it difficult to implement and it was difficult to know who had been invited, the quality of any Health Check and whether any significant disease or issue had been referred for support.  One option to improve the situation would be to give GP localities the responsibility for Health Checks.  A performance report would be provided for the Joint Board's November 2018 meeting.

The Joint Board noted that Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole's current performance was in the lowest quintile.  A change was needed to encourage reporting so that those who would benefit more from Health Checks could be targeted and better use made of available resources.

Resolved

1.   That the proposal to amend the existing governance arrangements for the Drug and Alcohol Treatment system as outlined in the paper be agreed.

2.   That Public Health Dorset review other community provider contracts with GP practices and pharmacies with an aim to fully integrate sexual health service provision by 31 March 2018.

3.   That the NHS Health Checks locality-based service model would be developed for consideration by the Joint Public Health Board at its next meeting.

4.   That a report on the proposed Health Check model be provided for consideration at the Board's September 2018 meeting and a report on performance for the November 2018 meeting.

5.   That future reports should give a breakdown of areas included in budgets.

Reason for Decisions

Close monitoring of the commissioned programmes was an essential requirement to ensure that services and resources were compliant and used efficiently and effectively.