Agenda item

Councillor Clarke explained the Camden and Islington joint Parks for Health Strategy had recently been launched at Caledonian Park. The Executive Member for Health and Care explained the Strategy considered how best to optimise the use and accessibility of parks. It was highlighted that Islington had the third highest level of child poverty, the fifth highest level of poverty amongst older people and the lowest level of green space in the country. Additionally, there was 10.4 years difference in healthy life expectancy between the most affluent and most impoverished parts of Islington. It was explained that parks enabled access to services, groups and activities and could help residents with their physical and mental wellbeing. The Strategy was supported by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and was developed in consultation with approximately 53 voluntary and community sector organisations, GP clinics and social prescribers.

Jonathan O’Sullivan, Director for Public Health explained there were three major updates at the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWBB). These were updates on reviews, the integrated care service transition and out of hours primary care services. The reviews were of community services, mental health services and children and young peoples and maternity services. For community and mental health services, an expectation of core services for North Central London had been defined and on that basis a case for change was being developed to outline improvements that would better address needs and any gaps in services. It was not yet clear what this meant for Islington, but some examples of initiatives included there being more peer workers to support people with mental health conditions and an increase in community beds as a step-down provision from hospitals. For the children, young people and maternity review a case for change had been developed and public engagement would be carried out over 10-12 weeks to look at the findings. 

In regard to the North Central London Integrated Care Service (NCL ICS) transition it was explained that the Chief Operating Officer Designate had attended the HWBB to talk about the goals and mission of the transition, which were to improve outcomes and address inequalities. In particular, it was hoped NHS services could support broader social, economic and environmental development, aspirations and plans.

A national initiative had looked at the primary care offer of out of hours services. It was determined that services should be available weekends and Saturdays with no requirement for Sundays or bank holidays to be covered. NHS North Central London provided an out of hours service at three locations, that included Sundays and bank holidays. Final plans would be approved in the autumn however the NHS North Central London did not want to see a reduction in the current service, so it was proposed local NHS funding be provided to maintain the current level of service.

The Committee considered NHS measures of deprivation, which in some instances were unfavourable towards Islington because communities were mixed and integrated rather than deprivation being condensed into some wards. The Director for Public Health explained that for service reviews wider measures had been used, including Lower Super Output Areas (LSOA), which showed Islington and Haringey were the most deprived. 

Councillor Hamdache asked whether there were opportunities for Primary Care Networks to look at standardisation of practice, in particular the use of Econsult systems, and whether Islington Council had a role in encouraging best practice across different services.  The Director for Public Health said it was a question that could be included in the briefing update.