Agenda item

(a)          To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2017.

(b)          To note progress in actions arising.

3.1       RESOLVED:

            That the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 November 2016 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record of proceedings.

3.2       RESOLVED:

            That progress in implementing actions and recommendations agreed by the Westminster Health and Wellbeing Board be noted.

3.3       The Chairman passed on comments to the Board on behalf of Councillor Acton. He advised that Councillor Acton had expressed concern at the lack of local authority representation at the Joint Committee of the North West London Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and seven of the eight London boroughs had voiced their concern about this. The Chairman added that there was Public Health representation on the Joint Committee of the North West London CCGs and the Joint Committee was currently in shadow form as it gains experience and there could be membership changes in future when the Joint Committee is formally signed off in May 2018. The Chairman also stated that Councillor Acton wished to highlight the excellent work of the new dental health campaign that was officially launched on 16 January. The animated film included in the campaign, the tale of Triumph over Terrible Teeth, had also been successful with primary school age children and the Council was working with various providers to improve oral health statistics in Westminster. The Chairman added that GPs were also placing messages concerning dental health in their waiting rooms.

3.4       The Chairman then informed the Board of other matters Councillor Acton wished to raise, including that nominations for the 2018 Care Awards closes at midnight on 22 January. Councillor Acton had also had a further meeting with NHS Property Services and it was important to forge a close relationship on this. Lastly, the Provider Board had made good progress on 17 January and both NHS Central London and NHS West London CCGs were in the process of aligning their work.

3.5       A Member commented that serious consideration needed to be given with regard to the future membership of the Joint Committee of the North West London CCGs and that this should include local authority representation. It was remarked that Westminster currently had the fourth worst dental health amongst children in the country and it was important to continue to address this issue. The issue was further complicated in that for many children and their parents in Westminster, English was not their first language and the role of education was important in improving dental health. The importance of registering with dentists was emphasised. It was also remarked that the popularity of sugary, fizzy drinks amongst children impacted adversely on their dental health. A Member suggested that dental health matters should be raised as part of pre-birth maternity support in order to get the message across at an early stage. It was acknowledged that organisations such as the Imperial College NHS Trust could play a role in this.

3.6       In respect of NHS Estates, Chris Neill (Deputy Managing Director, NHS Central London CCG) advised that in addition to working with NHS Property Services, discussions with the private sector and commercial landlords were taking place on a monthly basis. A Member remarked that the Council was aiming to build 2,000 new homes between 2020-2023 and was the NHS looking to tie in their aspirations with this. In reply, Chris Neill advised that efforts were being made to get to know the Council better and a joint session on property, including housing, would be beneficial.