Agenda item - Chair's Communications

The Chair of the Board will start the meeting with a short update on recent developments on health and wellbeing.

3.1      Health Counts event: In June I had the pleasure of opening the Health and Wellbeing Board partnership event discussing results of the 2024 Health Counts survey, hosted by the University of Brighton. This research gives us some of the best evidence of the health and wellbeing of our population, as well as inequalities across the city and faced by particular communities. This research was only possible because of the collaborative approach across the council, NHS, the universities, primary care, HealthWatch and the community and voluntary sector – reflecting the strong partnership approach of our Health and Wellbeing Board. This event saw partners from across the city discussing what we can do differently as a system to tackle the inequalities evidenced in the research. There is an update on today’s agenda on the survey findings, the themes that came out of these discussions and the next steps in working together to tackle inequalities.

HealthWatch: As the Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board I want to express our support for our HealthWatch Brighton & Hove colleagues, following the announcement in the NHS 10 year plan that the work of local Healthwatch bodies relating to healthcare will be brought together with Integrated Care Board and provider engagement functions, and that local authorities will take up local Healthwatch Social Care functions. Since their inception in 2012, Healthwatch Brighton & Hove has been an independent voice for people living in the city, gathering patient feedback to understand the lived experiences of people who use health and social care services, and used this to influence debate around local service delivery. We need to ensure that this vital work is not lost with these changes.

Finally, I’ve been asked to take the item on the Drugs & Alcohol Strategy earlier in the agenda to allow some presenters to attend who would otherwise have had a meeting clash. This item will consequently be taken immediately following the SAB Annual Report.