Agenda and minutes

Incorporating a minute’s silence in memory of those lost during the pandemic and a message of thanks and recognition to all that have played their part in the local system response.

The Chair paid tribute to the  wide range of key workers who had played their part in the response to the Coronavirus pandemic. She referred to the examples of carers who had nursed the sick and supported anyone in need, leisure workers who had been redeployed to support food banks and the shop and transport workers who had maintained their services during the lockdown. She thanked the residents of the Borough for their response which had helped control the rate of infection. The Chair also paid tribute to Wendy Burke, the Director of Public Health, and her team for their leadership during the emergency.

The Board then observed a moments silence in memory of those who had unfortunately lost their lives as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic.

To receive a report on the appointment of Substitute Members.

Any Member of the Board who is unable to join the meeting

may appoint a substitute member, provided the clerk is  

notified of the appointment prior to the commencement of the meeting.

Pursuant to the Council’s constitution the appointment of the following substitute members was reported:-

Ian Warne for Richie Rickaby (Tyne & Wear Fire & Rescue Service)

Denise Cowans for Kadar Kale (Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust)

Voting Members of the Board are invited to declare any

registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters

appearing on the agenda and the nature of that interest. They

are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any

registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been

granted in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Non-voting members are invited to declare any conflicts of

interest in matters appearing on the agenda and the nature of

that interest.

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations reported.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 9 January 2020.

Resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 9 January 2020 be confirmed and signed by the Chair

To receive a joint presentation from the Council, Clinical Commissioning Group and Healthwatch outlining the:

a)    impact of Covid-19 in North Tyneside over the course of the pandemic to date;

b)    recovery plans and health and wellbeing priorities to inform future commissioning priorities; and

c)    opportunities and positive issues to arise from the emergency.

Wendy Burke, Director of Public Health, Lesley Young-Murphy, Chief Operating Officer of North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group, and Paul Jones, Director of Healthwatch North Tyneside, presented an overview of the impact of Covid-19 in North Tyneside, details of the recovery plans and issues to emerge from the emergency. The purpose of the presentation was to inform the formulation of the Board’s future priorities and work plan.

The Board received a statistical analysis of the impact of Covid-19 including the rate and distribution of positive tests, the numbers of admissions to hospital and deaths and the extent of testing. The social, economic and health impact of the outbreak was summarised and the Council and Clinical Commissioning Group explained how services had been maintained, suspended or in some cases rapidly developed and deployed.

An evaluation of what had gone well had shown that the existing partnership arrangements in North Tyneside had meant there had been a positive whole system response with clear strategic objectives and a consistent communication of public health advice. The Board were presented with the planning assumptions underpinning the recovery plans, the shared strategic objectives and the health and wellbeing priorities for North Tyneside.

Paul Jones presented the key themes and issues to emerge from people’s experiences of services since March.

In considering the information presented to the Board, members examined those aspects of the response which had proven to be most challenging. These areas had included the amount of guidance issued by the Government which had to be processed and disseminated and the limited availability of testing during the early phases of the emergency. The Board also heard how delivery of home safety checks by the Fire and Rescue Service had been re-designed and how data sharing among partners would need to continue in order to maintain a targeted approach.    

The Board also discussed the availability of testing for carers working within the social care sector, the Adult Social Care, Health & Wellbeing Sub-Committee’s intention to examine the Livi service which sought to enhance access to primary care and the particular needs and issues affecting older and young people.

The Board asked to be provided with further details of the governance arrangements which had been put in place during the pandemic.

To determine a process for the formulation of the Board’s future work plan and priorities.

In January 2020 the Board had agreed to identify priorities and formulate detailed proposals for a work plan covering the period up to 2022/23.  Since then, the Coronavirus Pandemic had had a profound economic and social impact on the Borough as described in the earlier presentation. It was suggested that the Board now had a key role to play in providing shared leadership and ensuring there is an integrated strategic approach in recovering from the pandemic.  The Board would will need to focus its attention on analysing the impact of Covid-19 on the health and wellbeing needs of the population taking account of the wider determinants of health and lead and align policy in North Tyneside.  This work could include:

a)     the identification of any urgent and immediate corrective action that needs to take place, mindful of lessons learned during the emergency period; and

b)     planning for the medium and longer-term reviews and refreshes of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy (JHWS).

Resolved that (1) a working group be appointed to give further consideration to the impact of Covid-19 in North Tyneside and the emerging recovery plans and health and wellbeing priorities;

(2) the working group determine the priorities and formulate a work plan for the Board to be presented to the next meeting of the Board for approval on 12 November 2020; and

(3) the following members of the Board be appointed to the working group:

Councillor Matt Wilson

Wendy Burke, Director of Public Health

Jacqui Old, Director of Children and Adult Services,

Lesley Young-Murphy, Chief Operating Officer, North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group

Paul Jones, Director, Healthwatch North Tyneside.