Health and Wellbeing Board

The South Gloucestershire Health & Wellbeing Board is a statutory committee of South Gloucestershire Council set up in 2013 under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Its aim is to develop and deliver the Joint Heath and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-25 and is chaired by Cllr Ben Stokes, Executive Member for Adult Social Care. Current member organisations are:

Healthwatch South Gloucestershire

Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board

South Gloucestershire Council

The Care Forum

Voice and No-vote Members:

Bromford housing

CVS South Gloucestershire

Southern Brooks Community Partnerships

Avon and Somerset’s Police and Crime Commissioner

Avon Fire & Rescue Service

Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

North Bristol NHS Trust

Sirona care and health

South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

South Gloucestershire Locality Partnership

Preamble
The Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) is constituted pursuant to S.194 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 (the Act) and operates as a formal Committee of the Council (pursuant to S.102 LGA 1972) as from the 1 April 2013.

The Health and Care Act 2022 introduced new architecture to the health and care system, specifically the establishment of integrated care boards (ICBs) and integrated care partnerships (ICPs).  The Health and Care Act 2022 did not change the statutory duties of HWBs as set out by the 2012 Act.  HWBs continue to play an important statutory role in instilling mechanisms for joint working across health and care organisations and setting strategic direction to improve the health and wellbeing of people locally.

Although a statutory committee of the council the Board functions as a partnership board and its work informs and is part of the South Gloucestershire Local Strategic Partnership’s work and the Sustainable Community Strategy.

Purpose and Aims

• Provide a forum where political, clinical, professional and community leaders from across the health and care system in South Gloucestershire, come together to improve the health and wellbeing of the local population (including children and young people and vulnerable adults) and reduce health inequalities, ensuring a strong focus on establishing a sense of ‘place’.
• Promote greater integration and partnership between the NHS (South Gloucestershire Locality Partnership (LP), the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) Integrated Care Board (ICB) and Integrated Care Partnership (ICP)), local authority and wider partner organisations, paying regard to and challenging partners to work collaboratively and agree joint areas of focus.
• Work collaboratively with the South Gloucestershire LP, hold joint development sessions and agree joint areas of focus and priorities.
• Assess the health and wellbeing needs of the South Gloucestershire population and publish a joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA).
• Publish a South Gloucestershire joint health and wellbeing strategy (JHWS), which sets out the priorities for improving the health and wellbeing of the local population and how the identified needs will be addressed, including addressing health inequalities, and which reflects the evidence of the JSNA.
• Ensure the JHWS directly informs the development of joint commissioning arrangements (see section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006) in South Gloucestershire and the co-ordination of NHS and local authority commissioning, including Better Care Fund (BCF) plans, providing the governance for the BCF pooled fund in South Gloucestershire.
• Assess needs for pharmaceutical services in South Gloucestershire and publish and keep up to date a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA).
• Support the development and implementation of the BNSSG Integrated Care Strategy, which will set the direction for the system as a whole and tackle those challenges that are best dealt with at a system level.
• Support the development and implementation of the 5-year BNSSG Joint Forward Plan; provide comments and confirm that it takes proper account of the South Gloucestershire JHWS.
• Be a forum for discussions about strategic and operational co-ordination in the delivery of services already commissioned.

Functions

The HWB will:

• Keep the South Gloucestershire JSNA (via the South Gloucestershire Our Population Dashboard) up to date to ensure it continues to identify local needs and priorities.
• Keep the South Gloucestershire Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) up to date to ensure it continues to reflect local needs and priorities for pharmaceutical services.
• Refresh the South Gloucestershire Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2021-25 (JHWS) action plan to ensure it continues to align with local identified needs and priorities in the population health and wellbeing portal.
• Undertake deep dives into JHWS strategic objectives, focusing on one at each quarterly meeting on an ongoing basis.
• Prepare, contribute to and submit the Better Care Fund Plan that sets out the local vision for health and care services.
• Be involved in the preparation and annual refresh of the ICB 5-year Joint Forward Plan, which before the start of each financial year, the ICB, with its partner NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, must undertake. This includes the HWB receiving the ICB 5-year Joint Forward Plan (refreshed annually) and providing a statement about whether it takes proper account of the South Gloucestershire JHWS.
• Receive the ICB Annual Report to support its review of the steps taken to implement the South Gloucestershire JHWS.
• Provide a response to NHS England about the ICB’s contribution to the delivery of the JHWS for inclusion in its annual performance assessment of the ICB.
• Produce an annual report of HWB activities and actions.
• Ensure effective linkages are maintained to partnership bodies that align and/or report up to the HWB; as well as to the wider South Gloucestershire Local Strategic Partnership.
• Maintain an overview and receive annual reports on the safeguarding system
  for children, young people and vulnerable adults.
• Oversight of the South Gloucestershire Children’s Partnership. This will involve the receipt of reports and recommendations in relation to multi-agency working to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for children and young people.
• Receive updates from the South Gloucestershire Health Protection Assurance Group on controls and assurances against identified health protection risks and issues in the area.
• Provide reports, via the Chair, on the work of the HWB to the Health Scrutiny Committee.
• Members will comply with the South Gloucestershire Code of Conduct for Members, which is set out in the Council’s Constitution in Part C, Section 50, pages 253-258: South Gloucestershire Council: (southglos.gov.uk) or their own organisation’s code (where there is duplication).

Process

Board meetings will be held in public four times per year and in between there will be private development sessions jointly with the South Gloucestershire LP.

• Agreement will normally be by consensus but if a vote is required, voting
  rights will be limited to voting members of the Board.
• The Board will elect a chair from its membership at the first meeting of each civic year (which runs from May to April).

Quorum: meetings will be quorate if a third of voting members of the HWB attend in-person, including at least one each from SGC and the ICB.   NB: virtual attendance does not count towards the quoracy and voting members must attend in-person to exercise their vote, they cannot do so virtually.  They should send a substitute if they are unable to attend and wish to exercise their vote.

Review

The Board will formally review these terms of reference every 12 months and make
any recommendations to amend these to full Council.

Useful link: Health and wellbeing boards – guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Further information about the work of the partnership can be found in the documents listed below:

• South Gloucestershire Health & Wellbeing Board Annual Report 2022-23
• South Gloucestershire Health & Wellbeing Board Risk Assessment 2023-24
•  Health and Wellbeing Annual Report 2021-22  – Annual Report 2021-22 summary
• Health and Wellbeing Annual Report 2020-21
• Health and Wellbeing Board  Annual Report 2018-19 Highlights
• Health and Wellbeing Board Annual Report 2017/18
• Health and Wellbeing Strategy Summary
• View more about health and wellbeing board meetings

If you require any more information please contact us via strategy&Partnerships@southglos.gov.uk or phone 01454 863865