This meeting was scheduled to hear a report on inequalities in maternity care, and the associated recommendations for improvement, in addition to updates on the Southwark Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2027, an annual update on health protection and an update on the Partnership Southwark Health and Care Plan. There were also scheduled briefings on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, air quality, and healthy weight.

Southwark Maternity Commission

The Southwark Maternity Commission was set up to review the maternity care that families in Southwark get. It aimed to assess inequalities in maternity care, evaluate how national recommendations for maternity services are being followed and identify areas for further action.

The UK is one of the safest places in the world to give birth, yet we continue to see appalling disparities in maternal deaths. And even more shocking is the persistent statistic that Black and Brown women continue to die at a higher rate than their White counterparts

-Councillor Evelyn Akoto

Over 750 local residents, voluntary and community sector representatives, local maternity care providers and local workforce were scheduled to be engaged in this work.

The scheduled report included ten recommendations to tackle inequalities in pregnancy and childbirth experienced by families in Southwark. The first three recommendations were requests of the UK Government, while the remaining seven were targeted towards the local maternity system, voluntary and community sector organisations and Southwark Council.

Southwark Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-27 – Progress Report: November 2024

This report provided an update on all the actions of the Southwark Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-27, a partnership between Southwark Council and the South East London Integrated Care Board.¹

It covered the five drive areas of the strategy:

1. A whole family approach to giving children the best start in life
2. Healthy employment and good health for working age adults
3. Early identification and support to stay well
4. Strong and connected communities
5. Integration of health and social care.

The report noted that most of the 53 actions were complete, or on track, and suggested that a new action plan be developed for 2025-2027.

Health Protection Annual Report 2023/24

The Health Protection Annual Report 2023/24 was scheduled to provide an overview of activity, incidents, risks and achievements relating to health protection, infectious diseases, environmental risks and screening programmes in Southwark.

The report noted a higher level of activity following the COVID-19 pandemic and highlighted the UKHSA's declaration of a national measles incident in January 2024.

It covered the following topics:

• Infectious diseases including Tuberculosis, Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV.
• Food Safety.
• Vaccination programmes including the MMR vaccination and the pertussis vaccination.
• Screening programmes including cancer screening programmes and non-cancer screening programmes such as Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) screening, Diabetic Eye Screening and Antenatal and Newborn Screening.
• Health protection in vulnerable settings such as adult social care and initial accommodation centres (IACs) for asylum seekers.
• Environmental hazards including adverse weather and air quality.

Partnership Southwark Health and Care Plan refresh of strategic priorities

This report presented five new strategic priorities for the Partnership Southwark Health and Care Plan, a five-year plan informing how the partnership will work to meet local health and care needs.

The five strategic priorities are:

• Prevention
• Mental Health
• Health inequalities
• Workforce
• Integrated neighbourhood teams

For each of these strategic priorities, teams were scheduled to come together to agree ambition statements, outcome measures and delivery plans.

Air Quality Annual Status Report 2023

The Air Quality Annual Status Report 2023 was scheduled to provide an update on air quality in Southwark. Southwark Council is legally required to produce this annual review as the whole borough has been declared an Air Quality Management Area² since 2003.

The national objective for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) was not met in 2023, with the highest concentration measured at the monitoring site on Tower Bridge Road. Although Southwark is meeting the national objective for larger particulate matter (PM₁₀), and is well ahead of expectation for PM_2.5, all sites exceeded the WHO guidelines for PM_2.5.

The report included the results from Southwark's six air quality monitoring stations, in addition to 85 passive monitoring sites and 12 Breathe London sensors, a network of low cost sensors funded by the Mayor of London and Bloomberg Philanthropies.

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) Briefing

This briefing set out the scope, process and timeline for the refresh of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment. Every Health and Wellbeing Board in England is legally required to keep an up to date PNA, and the current one is due to be refreshed in 2025.

The briefing described community pharmacies as easily accessible and often the first point of contact in the health system, and highlighted their role in distributing medication, promoting self care, providing advice and signposting. The PNA refresh will be informed by a range of stakeholders, including local pharmacies, the Integrated Care Board and NHS England.

Healthy Weight in Southwark

This was a scheduled discussion on the Healthy Weight in Southwark agenda item. The report included recommendations for tackling childhood and adult obesity in the borough, covering the Southwark Healthy Weight Strategy. It outlined how the strategy has adopted the Whole Systems Approach, as described in the landmark 2007 Foresight report Tackling Obesities: Future Choices.³

The report covered a range of interventions in place across Southwark, including school-based activities, adult weight management programmes, free swim and gym schemes and the BetterPoints Southwark app⁴, which provides incentives for active travel. The report identified several areas of potential development including:

• Addressing the co-existence of obesity and long-term health conditions.
• Supporting people who are inactive to be active.
• Strengthening Healthy Schools and Healthy Early Years initiatives.
• Increasing awareness of national and local weight loss support services.
• Increasing capacity in tier 3 weight management services.
• Determining the best delivery model for weight loss drugs in South East London.

The report also discussed the link between obesity and climate change and outlined the benefits of active travel and plant-based diets.