About
In accordance with the requirements of the Health & Social Care Act 2012 (“the Act”) the Health and Wellbeing Board is a committee of the Council. The Health and Wellbeing Board:
1) Must for the purpose of advancing the health and wellbeing of the people in its area, encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health or social care services in that area to work in an integrated manner
2) Must provide such advice, assistance or other support as it thinks appropriate for the purpose of encouraging the making of arrangements under section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 in connection with the provision of such services
3) May encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health-related services in its area to work closely with the Health and Wellbeing Board
4) May encourage persons who arrange for the provision of any health or social care services in its area and persons who arrange for the provision of any health-related services in its area to work closely together
5) Must prepare and publish a joint strategic needs assessment for the county, pursuant to section 116 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012).
6) Must publish a joint local health and wellbeing strategy (JLHWS), which sets out the priorities for improving the health and wellbeing of its local population and how the identified needs will be addressed, pursuant to section 116 of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (as amended by the Health and Social Care Act 2012).
7) Discharge its separate statutory duty3 to develop a pharmaceutical needs assessment (PNA) for their area.
8) Under the Better Care Fund policy framework, Health and Wellbeing Boards must also sign off the Better Care Fund plan for the local area and provide governance for the pooled fund that must be set up in every area. Additional functions of the Health and Wellbeing Board Department of Health and Care guidance on Health and Wellbeing Board (published 2022) states that:
1) Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) must involve the Health and Wellbeing Board in preparing or revising their Joint Forward Plans; and the ICB must consult with the Board on whether the Joint Forward Plan takes proper account of the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
2) ICBs must consult the Health and Wellbeing Board in preparing their annual review and the annual review should review any steps the ICB has taken to implement the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
3) NHS England must consult the Health and Wellbeing Board for their views on the ICB’s contribution to the delivery of the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy as part of NHS England’s performance assessment of the ICB.
4) ICBs and their partner NHS trusts, and NHS foundation trusts are required to share their joint capital resource use plan and any revisions with the Health and Wellbeing Board.
5) Health and Wellbeing Board are expected to be involved in the preparation of the local Integrated Care Strategy.