Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Antoinette Jackson, Tim Moore, Mike Hay, Katy Parker, Rachel Talbot, Elizabeth Locke Graham Saint and Kate Parker

This is an opportunity for members of the public to ask a question or make a statement to the Partnership. Please refer to the Public Participation section at the end of this agenda.

There were no public questions.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 23rd October 2014

The minutes of the meeting of the 23rd October 2014 were agreed and signed as a correct record.

Jackie Riglin, Falls Prevention Therapy Lead for Cambridge Community Services, will talk about local falls prevention work and opportunities for further partnership working.

Members looked in detail at two PHOF indicators for Cambridge at the last meeting - injuries due to falls in people aged 65 and over and hip fractures in people aged 65 and over - that were significantly higher for Cambridge than the national average and asked to look at this matter further.

A paper was taken to Cambridgeshire Health Committee on 15 January 2014 setting out a proposed public health investment in falls prevention services.  At a local level the City Council has helped support the Forever Active charity that runs fall’s prevention classes, including mobility sessions, with small grants and is supporting the new arrangement for a Handy Person service.

The Partnership received a report from Jackie Riglin, Falls Prevention Co-ordinator.

Jackie outlined the work of her small, specialist department which encompasses training and partnership working to mainstream falls prevention which she stated, was everyone’s business.

A simple set of questions and prompts had been developed to help workers, from a range of agencies, identify those at risk of falls. Individuals were then signposted to appropriate interventions to reduce further falls.

Jackie Riglin said the following in response to questions from the Partnership:

       i.        The impact of changes to Care Pathways from the 1^st April 2015 was as yet unclear.

      ii.        The Falls Prevention Service used a telephone triage process to follow up reported falls.

    iii.        The service had no direct contact with discharge planning services. These would initially go to the locality team.

    iv.        Whilst providing service users with information on other services appeared to be a good idea, it was important that vulnerable people were not overloaded with information. The key was to keep it simple.

     v.        Work to develop a partnership with the Fire Service regarding domestic fire alarms was on-going.

    vi.        The falls pathways system sometimes identified the home environment as a factor in falls. However, it was outside the remit of the NHS to make changes to the homes. Referrals could be made to other agencies for home safety work which may involve a cost to the individual.

The Partnership made the following comments:

  vii.        Councillor Whitehead stated that the public were resistant toward tarmacked pavements which were less likely to become a trip hazard.  Tree root damage was also a big problem.

 viii.        Linking student volunteers to community groups was suggested.

    ix.        Bus drivers, under timetable pressures and pulling off before passengers were seated, were cited as a cause of falls.

     x.        The Partnership suggested that there was a good business case for raising awareness of falls prevention.

    xi.        The work of Green Fingers and the Handy Man Service were highlighted.

  xii.        Councillor Whitehead stated that elderly or less able people struggle to change batteries in smoke detectors. Councillor Roberts undertook to look into what could be done to address this problem.

The Partnership thanked Jackie Riglin for her presentation.

George Owers, Executive Councillor for Finance and Resources for the City Council, will give an overview of the Council’s developing anti-poverty strategy, setting out some of the initial priorities for action, and invite partners to contribute to the consultation about it, which can be found at:   

https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/anti-poverty-strategy-consultation

A paper showing the actions relating to the “reducing the links between poor health and poverty” section of the draft strategy and the consultation questions is attached.

Councillor Owers gave an introduction to the development of the Anti-Poverty Strategy for Cambridge. He suggested that the name may change as there was a stigma attached to the word poverty.

Councillor Owers stated that whilst the strategy was a long term project, he was keen for some initial action to be taken as soon as possible. These would include some food related projects, social isolation of the elderly and housing issues.

Initial projects for this year:

·        Pilot debt advice service linked to the GP surgery in Barnwell. It was hoped that this would free up GP time and, if successful, might attract additional external funding.

·        Targeted exercise referral.

·        Free Swimming.

·        Work to reduce the availability of high strength alcohol.

Projects were also under consideration to tackle water and fuel poverty. Approaches to tackle this included; community energy switching schemes, the Winter Warmth project and the Green Deal.

Partnership members made the following comments:

     i.        The clear priorities provided by the report were welcomed.

    ii.        Financial stress was on the increase and work needed to be done to promote credit unions and to encourage savings.

   iii.        Food Banks were not the best approach to poor nutrition and other approaches such as cooking and budgeting lessons were suggested.

  iv.        Encouraging and supporting community shops was suggested.

   v.        A Love Food / Hate Waste event would be taking place and further details would be circulated to partnership members.

  vi.        Providing starter pack for vulnerable tenants moving into tenancies was under consideration.

 vii.        It was suggested that many young people moving into tenancies had poor budgeting skills and needed help to access grants and training opportunities.

viii.        Housing in multiple occupation should be provided with information on healthy eating.

  ix.        Encouraging student to recycle electrical items when they moved on from Cambridge was suggested.

Councillor Owers thanked the Partnership for their comments. He confirmed that a big part of the strategy would be coordination and information sharing. Cambridge Matters would be used to share information.

Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB)

The 15 January 2015

There will be an opportunity for the partnership to discuss issues arising from this meeting.

Link to agenda for the HWB:

http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CommitteeMinutes/Committees/Meeting.aspx?meetingID=941

Health Committee

The 15 January 2015

There will be an opportunity for the partnership to discuss issues arising from this meeting.

Link to agenda for Cambridgeshire’s Health Committee

http://www2.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/CommitteeMinutes/Committees/Meeting.aspx?meetingID=883

Dr Liz Robin updated the Partnership on the recent meetings of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Health Committee.

Health and Wellbeing Board:

·        Considered the membership of the Board and agreed to appoint a member from the voluntary sector.

·        Reviewed the current strategy and adopted a number of joint strategies.

·        Work was on-going to co-ordinate and join up the multiple mental health strategies.

·        Agreed future areas for joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) including alcohol and drug use, new communities including migrants.

·        Agreed to set up a Public Health Reference Group.

·        Considered an update on the Better Care Fund

Health Committee:

·        Agreed to enter into a Section 75 agreement for school nursing services

·        Agreed the budget for Falls prevention.

·        The issues around Hinchingbrooke Hospital were raised and would be fully considered in March.

Councillor Tim Moore will provide an update about the Citizens Advice Bureau Outreach project at East Barnwell Medical Practice, on behalf of Cambridge Citizens Advice Bureau.

The Partnership noted the progress on the Citizens Advice Bureau outreach project at East Barnwell Medical Practice.

A discussion about the pressures on our local health care system: views from members about the situation.

The Partnership discussed the pressures on Health Care Systems and raised the following point:

     i.        Immunisation uptake in Cambridge was below the national average. This was thought to be linked to the population churn. Visitors from overseas was also said to be a factor as many families choose to stick with the immunisation program of their home nation. Members asked if it was possible to drill down into the statistics. Dr Liz Robin confirmed that it was possible at an individual GP level but would be labour intensive.

    ii.        The loss of the Citizen’s Advice Bureau at Addenbrooke’s Hospital due to funding cuts was discussed. The Partnership suggested that a representation be made to Addenbrooke’s to retain the service. Developing and business case and linking lack of advice to bed blocking was suggested. Councillor Whitehead suggested this be raised with Adrian Loades.

   iii.        The initiative regarding the use of public toilets as a location for public health information posters was welcomed. Using council vehicles and buses to promote health messages was discussed.

  iv.        Councillor Roberts outlined a proposal to make underused private open space accessible to the public.

Dates for a meeting in early June would be circulated shortly.