Agenda item

The Board considered a report of the Director of Public Health, Leicestershire County Council, which provided a summary of the headlines, conclusions and recommendations arising from two recent JSNA developed on Leicestershire’s Demography and Oral Health. A copy of the report marked ‘Agenda Item 9’ is filed with these minutes.  The Board also received presentations on both topics, a copy of which is filed with these minutes.

Arising from the discussion, the following points were noted:

Demography

i)             It was felt that the information now provided should be used to inform commissioning decisions and the work of the subgroups. The information would also support Board members to consider how issues such as the decrease in healthy life expectancy would affect their services in the longer term.   

ii)            In response to a suggestion that it would be useful to model the data to predict challenges to the system from 2030 onwards, it was clarified that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was expected to realise some nationally provided tools for this type of work. In the Adults and Communities Department at the County Council, work was already being undertaken to identify the impact of demand into the future and this could be built on further.

iii)           The Board discussed the higher percentage than the national average of those with A level qualifications and lower percentage level of those qualified up to a degree level in the county. Officers suggested that this partly because there was only one university in Leicestershire and partly because students were not returning to Leicestershire after graduation if they moved away for university.

iv)           The nuances in the data highlighted the importance of Community Health and Wellbeing Plans.  It was suggested that real time information on population change should be fed in to ensure that the demography chapter of the JSNA was continually updated.

v)            It was suggested that consideration should be given to preventative measures that could be put in place to target certain demographics and mitigate the impact on services in the future.

Oral Health

vi)           With regard to improving oral health in care homes, Board members agreed that it would be useful to engage with Teams who already went into care homes.  Consideration should also be given to using the ‘making every contact count’ model, making use of community pharmacists and GPs, for example, to push out messages about the importance of good oral health.  It might be useful for the Task and Finish Group to take this idea forward.

vii)          In response to concerns about children’s oral health, it was noted that positive work was currently being undertaken around supervised toothbrushing across Leicestershire and delivering education to parents.  The Children and Families Service Department was seeking to capitalise on this.

viii)        It was noted that there had been a small increase in the number of children in care who had had dental checks.  The barriers were thought to relate to capacity and access.

ix)           It was suggested that, in the context of the current cost of living crisis, some families did not see oral health as a priority, and it was unlikely that increasing education and awareness of the topic would change that.  To that end, it was suggested that the Health and Wellbeing Board should consider supporting fluoride varnish or water fluoridation, noting that this was a matter for the Government to determine.

x)            The Board noted that there had been issues with recruitment of NHS dentists for a number of years, with the issue being accelerated by the covid pandemic.  National reforms around fairer payments had been introduced in 2022 but other reforms were needed, for example around the national approach to the contract.  This was something that the Integrated Care Board could seek to influence.  Officers from the Integrated Care Board undertook to provide further detail on the issue of dental reforms.

xi)           In response to the query raised, it was noted that the Task and Finish Group included a diverse range of professionals, including foodbank providers.  The intention was for the group to include more operational staff going forward.  The Task and Finish Group had already been successful in getting toothpaste to foodbanks and providing unaccompanied asylum-seeking children with oral health packs.

RESOLVED:

a)    That the findings and recommendations of the Demography Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Chapter be supported and the Chapter be approved for publication;

b)    That strategic planners and commissioners be requested to consider the various demographic changes, trends and issues arising and ensure that these are taken into consideration, where possible, in future service and commissioning plans and strategies;

c)    That the findings and recommendations of the Oral Health Joint Strategic Needs Assessment Chapter be supported and the Chapter be approved for publication.