What is the Health and Wellbeing Board?

Havering’s Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) is a Committee of the Council on which both the Council and local NHS and other bodies are represented. The Board works towards ensuring people in Havering have services of the highest quality which promote their health and wellbeing and to narrow inequalities and improve outcomes for local residents. It will achieve this by coordinating the local NHS, social care, children's services and public health to develop greater integrated working to make the best use of resources collectively available.

Background

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 brought about significant changes to the way in which the NHS and health services are managed. In April 2013, primary care trusts were abolished and replaced with clinical commissioning groups (CCG), comprising of doctors, nurses and other clinicians. CCGs will manage most of the health budget within a local area and commission local NHS services. You can find more information about Havering’s new CCG on their website: http://www.haveringccg.nhs.uk/

A further reform under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 means that public health services are once again the responsibility of local government, as of April 2013. Public health focuses on improving the population’s health, rather than treating the diseases of individual patients. Since Victorian times local government had held responsibility for such services, which were incorporated into the NHS in 1974. This reform therefore reflects a return to local authorities being democratically accountable for their local populations’ wellbeing as they are best placed to understand that the environment within which people live, work and play are all crucial to their health and wellbeing.

An integrated, multi-agency approach is at the heart of the health reforms and HWBs are a key part of making this a reality. As of April 2013, it is a statutory requirement for each local authority and act as a forum for local commissioners across the NHS, social care, public health and other services. HWBs aim to develop a shared understanding of local need, develop joint priorities and encourage commissioners to work in a more integrated manner.

What does the Health and Wellbeing Board do?

 Below are some of the HWB’s key functions:

·         Championing the local vision for health improvement, prevention / early intervention, integration and system reform

·         Tackling health inequalities

·         Using the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA)and other evidence to determine priorities

·         Developing a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS)

·         Ensuring patients, service users and the public are engaged in improving health and wellbeing

·         Monitoring the impact of its work on the local community by considering annual reports and performance information

Meetings

Since April 2013, meetings of the Board are open to members of the public who are welcome to attend. Meetings take place every four to six weeks, usually at the Town Hall and a full list of meeting dates is available on the web site.

JSNA

Havering’s JSNA is a collection of resources and information which help to understand the health and wellbeing of local people. The HWB will review and analyse this information in order to identify the major issues that need to be addressed around health and wellbeing, and the priority actions that need to be taken to address those issues.

You can find out more here:

http://www.haveringdata.net/jsna/

Health & Wellbeing Strategy

Havering's Health and Wellbeing Strategy sets out how partners will work together to improve the health and wellbeing of local people and improve the quality of, and access to, local healthcare services, informed by the JSNA. It provides the overarching direction for the commissioning of health and social care services in Havering and is the responsibility of the HWB.

You can find out more here: - https://www.havering.gov.uk/downloads/file/1533/havering_health_and_wellbeing_strategy_2017