The Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OSC) was scheduled to meet to discuss patient services at Berwick Community Hospital, and to review the committee's work programme. The meeting was also scheduled to include a review of the minutes from recent Health & Wellbeing Board meetings, and the latest forward plan of key decisions made by the cabinet. Councillor T. Austin was scheduled to replace Councillor S. Simm on the Health and Wellbeing OSC for the coming year.

Berwick Community Hospital Patient Services

The committee was scheduled to receive an overview from NHS colleagues on existing, proposed, and confirmed new patient services at the new Berwick Community Hospital.

Health and Wellbeing OSC Work Programme

The Health and Wellbeing OSC Work Programme was scheduled to be reviewed. The work programme/monitoring report for 2025-2026 included:

Issues to be Scheduled/Considered:

• Regular updates on the implications of legislation
• Minutes of the Health and Wellbeing Board
• Notes of the Primary Care Applications Working Party
• Care Quality Accounts
• Ambulance response times

Themed scrutiny:

• GP Access
• Mental Health Support
• Pharmacy
• Vaccinations
• Reducing Suicides in Northumberland
• Vaping

The work programme listed several items for future meetings:

• Heart of Blyth Project
• ICB Dentistry
• NCASP Annual Report
• Northumbria Primary Care Governance Arrangements
• NEAS Patient Transport

Health and Wellbeing Board Minutes

The minutes of the Health & Wellbeing Board meetings held on 14 August 2025 and 11 September 2025 were included in the report pack.

The 14 August meeting included a presentation on the Thriving Together Annual Review for 2024/25, given by Nicola Duffy, Thriving Together Programme Director. Thriving Together is a VCSE¹ support organisation, commissioned in 2021. According to the presentation, Thriving Together arranged 121 visits to provide support and guidance to organisations, and their employability project, Solid Foundations, commenced in 2023 with funding from the North East Combined Authority and UK Shared Prosperity Fund². The Northumberland Volunteer Passport, a digital tool which enables volunteers to record their skills, training and volunteer work into recognised personal and professional development, was also discussed.

Also at the 14 August meeting, Hugh McKendrick, Chair of Healthwatch Northumberland, and Derry Nugent, Healthwatch Northumberland Project Co-ordinator, presented the annual report from Healthwatch Northumberland for 2024-2025. According to the presentation, Healthwatch was created by the Health and Social Care Act of 2012³ to champion the needs of health and social care users. Projects in 2024/25 included an improvement plan for audiology services provided by Newcastle hospitals, and Enter and View visits to care homes operated by one provider.

The 11 September meeting included a report from Councillor Chicken, Cabinet Member for Adults' Services and Health, regarding the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) 2025-28. According to the report, every Health and Wellbeing Board is required to produce a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) at least every three years. The PNA is a statutory responsibility of the Health and Wellbeing Board, and provides a framework to support the local care system. The key conclusions of the four PNA areas considered North, West, Central and South East were: Adequate provision in North, West and Central areas, and a gap had been identified in Newsham following the closure of a pharmacy.

Reports of the Scrutiny Officer

The committee was scheduled to note the latest Forward Plan of key decisions.