The North West London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (NWL JHOSC) convened to discuss several key healthcare issues affecting the region, including maternity provisions, adult mental health services, and the reconfiguration of the Integrated Care Board (ICB). Councillors also planned to review the committee's recommendations tracker and upcoming work programme.

Maternity Provisions in North West London

The report pack included a comprehensive overview of maternity service provision across North West London. It noted that in 2024/25, the six maternity sites in North West London oversaw 26,486 births, bucking the national trend of declining birth rates with a 1% year-on-year increase. The report also highlighted disparities in outcomes, with Black and Asian women experiencing significantly higher term stillbirth rates compared to White women.

The report pack stated that the Local Maternity and Neonatal System (LMNS) has developed a five-priority Equity and Equality Action Plan to address these challenges through inclusive service restoration, digital access, data quality, targeted prevention, and strengthened leadership.

The report pack recommended several actions:

• Developing a five-year maternity strategy with birth rate forecasting and workforce planning
• Aligning local actions with national priorities including the Maternity Taskforce and Ten-Year Plan
• Embedding the Maternity Outcomes Surveillance System (MOSS) toolkit for real-time performance monitoring
• Fully implementing the forthcoming regional Maternity Reducing Inequalities Care Bundle
• Strengthening co-production with service users and community partners
• Publishing disaggregated outcomes data to drive transparency and accountability

The report pack quoted that:

NWL performs significantly better across all ethnicities than regional and national figures for all stillbirths, but these improvements disappear when only looking at term cases.

Public reports pack 17th-Jul-2025 10.00 North West London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Commi.pdf

Adult Mental Health

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on adult mental health provision in North West London. The report pack noted that the mental health strategy was presented to the JHOSC in October 2024, and this paper provides an update on progress against the key milestones. The report pack stated that by 2028/29, the council aims to have:

• Raised awareness across North West London so that every resident knows how to access mental health support both in crisis and more widely in the community.
• Developed an assets-based approach to promoting mental health, wellbeing and independent living, partnering with and investing in local community organisations.
• Increased equity and equality of service access to reflect different needs of local and diverse communities, with greater targeted support to those with severe mental illness.
• Integrated care between primary care and mental health teams to enable more person-centred care and a greater focus on adults with severe mental illness.
• High quality inpatient facilities that provide timely care, by an expert team in a therapeutic and compassionate environment.
• Worked together with Local Authority partners to develop solutions to the housing and employment pathway challenges.

Reconfiguration of the ICB and Implications on Services

The committee was scheduled to discuss the reconfiguration of the ICB and its potential implications on services. The report pack noted that in March 2025, NHS England announced that ICBs would face approximately 50% in cost reductions in the 2025/26 financial year. The report pack stated that the government also announced that it would be merging NHS England with the Department of Health Social Care, with similar cost reductions to the wider NHS.

The report pack stated that NHS England's feedback on the Model ICB submission asked the council to develop an options appraisal on future clustering with North West and North Central London ICBs, including the option of full merger.

The report pack noted that draft options that are being assessed include:

• Option 1: NWL ICB operating as a single organisation
• Option 2: NWL ICB operating as a single organisation, with a shared management team with NCL ICB
• Option 3: NWL and NCL ICBs merging into a single organisation

North West London JHOSC Recommendations Tracker

The committee was scheduled to review the latest 2023/24 and 2024/25 scrutiny recommendations trackers. The report pack noted that the trackers provide a summary of scrutiny recommendations made during the previous two municipal years, track decisions made by NHS colleagues, and give the committee oversight over implementation progress.

North West London JHOSC 2025/26 Work Programme

The committee was scheduled to discuss its work programme for the 2025/26 municipal year. The report pack noted that the committee's work programme outlines the decisions and health policy areas the committee plans to review during the municipal year, according to its Terms of Reference.

The draft work programme included the following items:

Thursday 17 July 2025

• Maternity provisions in NWL including outcomes and equity across the region
• Adult Mental Health
• Reconfiguration of ICB and implications on services

Tuesday 09 September 2025

• Cancer Screening & Early Diagnosis
• The future of Place Based Partnerships delivering health and care services
• SEN Continence Service

Tuesday 09 December 2025

• Urgent and Emergency Care Delivery
• Implementation of the Same Day Access Model in Primary Care
• Application of the Continuing Healthcare Criteria

Thursday 19 March 2026

• Dentist Commissioning and Children's Dental Health
• Digital Health, Data Use, AI and Digital Inclusion
• Weight Loss Drug Supply and Roll Out
• Maternity Strategy