This meeting included reports on the provision of support to disabled residents, a new scheme to support vulnerable adults, a strategy to improve healthy weight amongst residents and the scrutiny committee's work programme for 2025-26.

Support for Disabled Residents

The report pack includes a report looking at how the health and care system supports disabled residents. The report sets out the findings of research into the challenges faced by disabled residents and their experiences of interacting with the health and care system in Camden.

It includes a presentation pack that sets out a range of issues that could be discussed, including:

• The value placed on the lives of disabled residents
• Improving the accessibility of information about health and social care
• Ensuring that the social model of disability is reflected in the design and delivery of health and care services
• Examples of good practice

The report quotes from an article published on the Camden Disabled Voices website by Mik Scarlet¹, a wheelchair user, who described his experiences of trying to access a health clinic in Camden:

I was so upset and angry, I just cried. I was in so much pain and now I was just left there. I felt so small and powerless. This happens to so many Disabled people, it is just not right

The report also highlights a number of organisations that support disabled residents in Camden, including Camden Disability Action, Age UK Camden and Camden Carers.

Adult Early Help: A test and learn approach to prevention across the Council

The report pack included a report on Adult Early Help (AEH). The report describes a test and learn project that aims to explore how a new approach to supporting vulnerable adults could prevent their situations from getting worse. The project tests whether providing staff with more time and flexibility to build meaningful relationships with people could help them identify and support their needs sooner.

The report pack explains that:

Despite this collective investment across the council, it was recognised that some adults in Camden are still falling through the gaps in support. Therefore, adults can miss out on receiving the support that they need at a timely point, even if the support exists.

The report describes how an AEH Team was set up to test this new way of working. The team will support up to 12 adults over 18 months. These adults were chosen from a list of people nominated by a variety of services, including social prescribers, housing officers, Change Grow Live² and family early help workers.

The report asks the committee to consider:

• The findings of the evaluation of the test and learn project
• What data should be collected to understand the feasibility of an AEH approach
• How the work can align with local and national plans
• The progress of the work so far

Camden’s Healthy Weight Acceleration Plan – Year 1

The report pack included an update report on the first year of Camden's Healthy Weight Acceleration Plan. The plan aims to support residents to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. It identifies five workstreams:

1. Early Years
2. Schools
3. Organisations and Place Shaping
4. Weight Management Services
5. Population Groups with greater needs

The report pack highlights some of the challenges faced by the borough:

Despite effective local action, 1 in 5 (20%) Camden children are still entering reception at school overweight or very overweight

The report describes the progress made in each of the five workstreams, including:

• The development of a comprehensive health improvement training programme for early years staff.
• A £600k school food infrastructure programme for secondary schools.
• Significant investment in Camden's Food Partnership.
• The development of new weight management pathways for children and young people.
• A tailored healthy weight support programme for the Bangladeshi community

The report asks the committee to consider:

• The content of the report.
• Opportunities to progress work on healthy weight in Camden.

Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee Work Programme and Action Tracker

The report pack includes the Committee’s work programme for 2025-26, which includes the following items scheduled for the meeting on 8 July 2025:

• Cabinet Member Update
• State of Community Pharmacy
• NCL ICB Dental Transformation and Dental Services Update
• Changing Arrangements for mental health social work
• Insight, learning and impact end of year report

The report pack also suggests a number of items that the committee could prioritise for discussion in 2025/26, including:

• Community Champions
• Hoarding and cuckooing
• Women’s Health Hub
• Men’s health
• Suicide Prevention

The report asks the committee to consider:

• The Committee’s work programme for 2025-26 (Appendix A).
• The Committee’s Action Tracker (Appendix B).