Minutes:
The Board considered a report of the Strategic Director, Communities, which informed the Members on the progress and key developments for the Community Wellbeing Practices Initiative.
The Board was advised that the Community
Wellbeing Practices (CWP) initiative provided a wraparound service for all 17
GP practices in the Borough to ensure patients whose needs were predominantly
psychosocial in origin were identified and provided with effective community
based interventions. Wellbeing Enterprises CIC, an established, local social
enterprise had been commissioned to design and deliver the service in
collaboration with patients, partner agencies and professionals working in
health and social care.
The Board was further advised that a team of
nine Community Wellbeing Officers served as a link between the GP Practice
setting and the wider community. The CWP initiative provided essentially three
core services for patients and the public: the provision of psychosocial
support; a community navigation service and assed based community projects.
The Board noted the patients journey; the
outcomes and achievements set out in the report and the feedback that had been
received from members of the public and professionals.
It was reported that the next steps and the
main priorities were as follows:-
·
Integrate
the CWP initiative into new clinical and social care pathways to ensure
patients whose needs were predominately psychosocial in origin were able to
receive timely, effective community based support;
·
To
increase the referral rates for patients coming into the CWP service from newly
established referral sources;
·
Providing
support to enable community members to develop their own wellbeing projects;
·
To
continue to collaborate with partners in the VCSE sector on community led
projects and to raise the profile of VCSE partner agencies in health and social
care; and
·
To
expand the social prescribing service to provide additional out of hours
provision.
The following comments arose from the discussion:-
·
Information
was requested on the pilot in West Bank.
In response, it was reported that information on the pilot would be
circulated to all Members of the Board;
·
It
was noted that the facetime project would support
people with modern day technology and reduce isolation in the community;
·
Clarity
was sought on whether the interventions were time limited and what happened
when the interventions ceased. In
response, it was reported that a one to one meeting took place initially, an
action plan was established for structured support over several weeks in order to
enable individuals to achieve their targets.
Further meetings took place to monitor progress and patients were able
to come in and out of the service as they wished. The support was built around the patient and
if specialised services were required they would be referred to an appropriate organisation
for additional support.
·
Clarity
was sought on the plans to ensure that the project was sustainable in the
current economic climate and that there would be a continuity of preventative
support for the residents of Halton. In
response, it was reported that it was a commissioned service and represented
the national thinking in respect of sustainability and building
communities. The Chairman of the Health
and Wellbeing Board was also adopting this approach and it had been endorsed by
the National Association of Primary Care.
In addition, it was reported that there was a commitment to embed and
continue this project in the community as it was far more beneficial than acute
care in respect of prevention. It was noted that sustainability was an
essential part of the project moving forward,
The importance of how support could be given to the infrastructure and
for all other organisations to be involved in the work was also noted; and
·
The
Board noted the excellent work that had been undertaken for many years by
various organisations such as The Lets Go Club, The Canal Project and 4Estates etc in the Borough.
The Board also noted the importance of integrating such organisations fully
into the project to avoid duplication, enhance the project and to ensure that
their experience was not lost.
RESOLVED: That the report and comments raised be noted.
Supporting documents: