Health inequalities: Place and Wellbeing Programme Steering Group minutes - August 2022

Attendees and apologies

• Michael Kellet (Chair), Director for Population Health, Scottish Government
• Marion Bain, Public Health Advisor, Scottish Government
• Sam Cassels, Place Principle Advisor, Regeneration Unit, Scottish Government
• Angela Davidson, Deputy Director for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing, Scottish Government
• Diana Hekerem (Deputising), Healthcare Improvement Scotland
• Rikke Iversholt (Deputising), Technology Enabled Care & Digital Innovation, Scottish Government
• Heather Knox, Chief Executive, NHS Lanarkshire
• Fiona MacDonald (Deputising), Health Inequalities and Mental Health, Scottish Government
• Karen MacNee, Deputy Director for Health Improvement, Scottish Government
• Gerard McCormack, Head of Transformation, Performance and Improvement, Improvement Service
• Dona Milne, Vice Chair of the SDPH Group, NHS Lothian
• Susan Paxton, Head of Programme, Scottish Community Development Centre
• Karen Reid, Chief Executive, NHS Education for Scotland
• Pamela Smith (Deputising), Public Health Scotland
• Joy Tomlinson, Director of Public Health, NHS Fife
• Alison White, Convenor, Social Work Scotland
• Janet Whitley (Deputising), Community Planning, Scottish Government

Apologies

• Naureen Ahmad, Deputy Director for General Policy, Scottish Government 
• Dominique Allwood,  Assistant Director for Improvement, Health Foundation
• Linda Bauld, Chief Social Policy Advisor, Scottish Government
• Lorna Birse-Stewart, Chair, NHS Tayside
• Nicola Dickie, Director of People Policy, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
• Ruth Glassborow, Director of Improvement, Health Improvement Scotland
• Vicky Irons, Chief Officer, Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership
• Angela Leitch, Chief Executive, Public Health Scotland
• Lynn MacMillan, Head of Health Inequalities Unit, Scottish Government
• Jane O’Donnell, Deputy Director for Local Government and Analytical Services, Scottish Government
• Carol Potter, Chief Executive, NHS Fife
• Peter Seaman, Associate Director, Glasgow Centre for Population Health
• Claire Sweeney, Director of Place and Wellbeing, Public Health Scotland
• Margaret Whoriskey, Deputy Director for Technology Enabled Care and Digital Innovation, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome and apologies

Michael Kellet, Director of Population Health with Scottish Government. welcomed the group and announced that Elizabeth Sadler, Deputy Director for Covid-Ready Society, will be taking over as Chair of the Steering Group from September. Thanks were extended to Michael Kellet for his leadership.

The minutes from the previous meeting had already been approved via email. Outstanding actions were reviewed and an update of progress was given.

Anchors Delivery Group

Úna Bartley, Team Lead for the Place and Wellbeing Programme at Scottish Government, provided an overview of the Anchors Delivery Group who met for the first time in July and updated the workstream objectives. Task and finish groups will meet to agree key milestones and identify whether existing groups can take this work forward.

Michael Kellet noted thanks to Carol Potter, Chief Executive for NHS Fife, for chairing the Delivery Group. The revised aim and objectives for the workstream were agreed. It was agreed that a narrative should be developed alongside the aims and objectives that emphasised that the workstream is there to enable effective (not get in the way of) collaborations at a local level. The narrative could also link to related initiatives such as Community Wealth Building and 20 minute neighbourhoods, as well as its role alongside Community Planning Partnerships.

It was noted that a theory of change is under development which will inform the work plan and milestones for the three focus areas. It was agreed that it would be useful for the model to take account of the three horizons approach that is informing the Portfolio overall.

It was suggested that the Anchors Delivery Group might benefit from additional members from the social care sector. Alison White, Convenor for Social Work Scotland, offered to identify a Chief Social Work Officer to join the Group to ensure that social care is equally represented.

Anchors Workstream: Workforce element

Úna Bartley introduced the paper. Isabella De Wit, Head of Capacity Building and Recruitment Strategy for Scottish Government, followed to highlight that while there is positive work happening on employability across health boards, the cluttered landscape and lack of a shared strategic plan results in inconsistency. Members had questions about governance and how workforce elements will be integrated across the Care and Wellbeing Portfolio.

It was agreed that we should recognise that health boards are working in partnerships with other local partners and anchors who will have agreed priority groups for their area. The following policies and priority groups should also be considered as part of this strand of the workstream: care leavers; groups with complex needs; rural populations, and equalities, diversity and intersectionality.

It was noted that health boards would welcome targets in this area, and that they could be asked to self-assess and establish a baseline in relation to different priority groups.

Members acknowledged that there is a lot of good work being undertaken by health boards on employability and widening access to the professions. NHS Education for Scotland are undertaking a lot of work to support health boards with this. It was agreed that we need to take account of the opportunities within the National Care Strategy as this work progresses. Additionally, Karen Reid, Chief Executive for NHS Education for Scotland, flagged the Curriculum for Excellence is to be reviewed. This will include skills development and employability for health and social care and other public services.

It was agreed that the task and finish group on the workforce element should ensure connections to other policy areas, and look to learn from the experience of local authorities with respect to working in partnership with other anchor institutions. The group should also explore whether there needs to be a national group established to take forward the outputs that need to be prioritised.

Communities Workstream: Developing a framework

Kimberley Smith, Communities Workstream Lead within the Place and Wellbeing Programme. updated members on the outcome of the sub-group discussions. Details were given on the ambitions of a framework for community-led health and wellbeing. Members were asked to provide comment on the ambitions and note the proposed co-production approach.

The role of national government was discussed and it was highlighted that a framework could facilitate the joining up of funding at local levels to enhance community-led activity.

Diana Hekerem, Head of Transformational Redesign Support at Health Improvement Scotland, described some of the work Police Scotland are undertaking in local communities, and members agreed it would be beneficial to have their input.

Action 8:

• Programme team to invite Police Scotland to join the Steering Group