Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Mr Tony Zaman.

There were no declarations of interest in matters coming before this meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2025 be agreed as a correct record. 

It was confirmed that Agenda Items 5 to 8 would be considered in public and Agenda Items 9 to 12 would be considered in private.

Mr Sean Bidewell, Joint Borough Director at North West London Integrated Care Board, advised that the report provided an update on the progress against the Health and Wellbeing Board’s key priorities and consolidated the latest developments across three core areas:

1.    Health and Wellbeing Board metrics;

2.    Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INT) – three collocated multi-agency INTs would be established with three core functions: same day urgent primary care through three Neighbourhood Super Hubs, proactive care; and a preventative and anticipatory care programme; and

3.    Reactive Care Programme – to prevent unnecessary non-elective episodes for patients with complex needs and to promote rapid recovery and prompt discharge after acute inpatient stay, a new Urgent Response Service and a new Active Recovery Service would be implemented. 

In response to growing health needs, inequalities and system pressures, five strategic priorities had been established to strengthen prevention, reduce unplanned care and target inequality at neighbourhood level: Start Well; Live Well; Age Well; Healthy Places; and Equity and Inclusion.  Delivery in the first two years would focus on Live Well, Age Well and Equity and Inclusion. 

Mr Bidewell advised that all three of the INTs were now live and 50% of the severe frailty cohort was being case managed, delivering a 36% reduction on non-elective admissions (the remaining 50% would be case managed by the end of April 2026).  Hypertension prevalence recording had increased from 10% to 13.8% (with a target of 16% by March 2026), and 85% of diagnosed cases were under control.  It was anticipated that the Reactive Care Coordination Hub would go live in December 2025 and there would be expanded capacity within the Lighthouse Mental Health Crisis model in the next four weeks.  This had been made possible with additional funding from the Integrated Care Board (ICB) for additional staffing and a shift from a bedroom model to a mental health A&E model.  It was recognised that someone in mental health crisis should not be presenting at the Emergency Department (ED) so the new model looked at promoting crisis alternative initiatives for “mental health only” issues.  If someone with mental ill health presented at the ED, they needed to be walked through to the Lighthouse.  It was suggested that this initiative needed to be widely publicised and information circulated through partners as well as in Hillingdon People. 

The report provided performance data against the target for each metric and the action being taken to remedy any shortcomings.  Weekday hospital discharges had improved to an average of 55 per day (this had been 51 per day in June 2025) and, although weekend discharges had increased, improvements were still needed.  A system taskforce and eight-week delivery plan had been put in place to reduce the number of patients with no criteria to reside during September / October 2025 (currently 46 against a target of 34).  Conversations were being undertaken as it was not anticipated that this would improve unless radical action was taken. 

There were a number of challenges still being faced  ...  view the full minutes text for item 50.

Mr Gary Collier, the Council’s Health and Social Integration Manager, advised that the community equipment service included hoists, beds, rails, etc.  The report noted that the contracted provider had gone into liquidation so a new two year provider contract had been put in place with effect from 1 August 2025 (with the possibility of a one year extension).  Due to the short implementation timescales, the services provided by the new contractor had initially been limited to concentrate on hospital discharge and repairs whilst capacity was built up.  From this week, things would move to a business-as-usual position so that the number of prescribers could be built up over the remainder of the month.

It was recognised that partners had worked hard to get the new contract in place quickly and in such a way that residents would not have been aware of the challenges being experienced.  There were only a small number of companies that would have been able to fulfil the contract and the original contractor going into liquidation had affected other London boroughs who had not been as fortunate in getting a new provider in place so quickly. 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Ms Shikha Sharma, the Council’s Public Health Consultant, advised that a new Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) was required every three years and must link to other strategies such as the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.  The PNA assessed the adequacy of pharmaceutical services in Hillingdon under five key themes and considered the Borough’s current and future needs over the next three years.  The PNA had a dual purpose:

• to provide the Health and Wellbeing Board with a framework for understanding the range and suitability of the local pharmaceutical services; in relation to the needs of the local populations; and
• to support decision making process while considering application of new pharmacies.

The document had been completed by following a four stage methodology: project planning and governance; research and analysis; PNA development; and consultation and final PNA production.  The PNA was on track for publication by the 1 October 2025 deadline. 

Pharmacies in Hillingdon provided the following NHS England commissioned services:

·         Essential services – including dispensing of medicines, Public Health, signposting and support for self care;

·         Advanced services – including Pharmacy First, flu vaccinations, contraception, and smoking cessation; and

·         Enhanced services – including Covid vaccinations and bank holiday opening.

The Integrated Care Board commissioned end of life services through pharmacies and services that were commissioned locally by the local authority included sexual health and substance misuse services.  For the purpose of the PNA, all essential services were considered necessary services.  The advanced and enhanced services were considered relevant as they contributed towards the improvements in provision and access to pharmaceutical services.

The current population of Hillingdon was 319,018 with a projected increase to 342,000 expected by 2031.  Around 1,200 new dwellings were expected each year during the course of the PNA.  Although deprivation was highest in the south of the Borough, there were pockets of deprivation in the north. 

There were 59 pharmacies contracted in Hillingdon, equating to 19 pharmacies per 100k population which was favourable compared to the England average of 17.7 (this figure was broken down further, showing that there were 20.1 in the north of the Borough and ?18.9 per 100k population in the south).  Although it had been found that 99.7% of residents lived within a five minute drive from a pharmacy, accessibility was more complex than that and conditions that people suffered from varied across the Borough.  Progress had been made with regard to availability of preventative services like smoking cession but consideration needed to be given to how and which services were being provided from pharmacies. 

During the public consultation, 166 responses had been received, mainly commenting on things like the availability of medicines, location and the quality of services.  77% of respondents had stated that they were able to travel to a pharmacy in less than 15 minutes and 18% stated between 15 and 30 minutes.  It was noted that pharmacy accessibility for residents in the Heathrow Villages had been incorporated into the feedback.

It was noted that the community engagement work undertaken by partners in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

Consideration was given to the Board Planner.  It was noted that the Health and Wellbeing Board Strategy would be brought to the Board meeting on 2 December 2025 along with an update on the changes within the Integrated Care Board. 

A lot of work had been undertaken in relation to childhood obesity.  As such, the Board would be provided with an update at the meeting on 2 December 2025. 

It was suggested that, as the issue had arisen during the meeting, consideration be given to holding a discussion about communication channels and maybe getting some feedback from residents on the effectiveness of partners’ communications.  It was recognised that the world was changing, the Neighbourhoods needed to involve forums and that communications needed to be pushed out through the Neighbourhoods (which would each have their own approach based on the local population).  This issue could be considered in March or June 2026.

RESOLVED:  That the Board Planner, as amended, be agreed.

RESOLVED:  That the confidential minutes of the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting led on 10 June 2025 be agreed as a correct record.

Consideration was given to the confidential report. 

RESOLVED:  That the report and discussion be noted.

This report was discussed as part of Agenda Item 10 - The 10 Year NHS Plan: Towards a New Place Operating Model for Hillingdon. 

The Board discussed issues such as the Minor Injuries Unit and Hillingdon Hospital redevelopment and performance. 

RESOLVED:  That the discussion be noted.