The Health and Adult Scrutiny Subcommittee met to review the successes, priorities, and challenges of the Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Directorate and its health partners for the 2026-27 municipal year. The committee also began developing its scrutiny work programme for the upcoming year.

Health, Wellbeing and Social Care Directorate: Successes, Priorities, and Challenges

Councillor Sabina Akhtar, Cabinet Member for Health, Caring and Inclusive Communities, and Georgia Chimbani, Corporate Director for Health and Adult Social Care, presented an overview of their directorate's work.

Key Successes:

• Smoking Cessation: The Quit Right Tower Hamlets service supported 1,827 successful quits, with a quit rate of 56%, exceeding the national average. Strong outcomes were noted for priority groups, including BAME residents, manual workers, and individuals with mental health conditions.
• Free Swimming: Since its launch, the initiative has seen 65,000 bookings, with over 80% from women and 33% from a Bangladeshi background. The female workforce has also expanded, with 34 newly trained female lifeguards.
• Communities Keeping Well Programme: This resident-led project received a bronze award at the LGC Awards and was shortlisted for a Royal Society Public Health award. It has funded over 135 neighbourhood projects, reaching 4,500 residents to prevent long-term conditions.
• Culturally Sensitive Substance Misuse Centre: A new service has been finalised to cater to the specific needs of diverse communities.
• Community Equipment Service: Following the national provider's failure, the council rapidly established an in-house service, ensuring continuity for vulnerable residents.
• Adult Social Care Rating: The service was rated 'Good' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), with praise for well-trained staff, strong partnership working, and a focus on reducing inequalities. Over 14,000 members have signed up for free swimming sessions.
• Homecare: 89% of residents receiving commissioned homecare reported satisfaction.
• Safeguarding: In 2024/25, over 1,400 adult safeguarding referrals were received, with over 393 safeguarding enquiries completed. The service also handled over 15,700 contacts into Adult Social Care and Children's Services.

Priorities for 2026/27:

• Developing a new Health and Wellbeing Strategy for the borough.
• Recommissioning the Substance Misuse Service to meet the needs of local communities.
• Developing a neighbourhood-based approach to homecare procurement.
• Delivering transformation projects and savings of £5.1 million.
• Strengthening neighbourhood working and fostering a culture of listening to and developing the skills of local communities.
• Improving transitions between children's and adult services.

Challenges:

• Financial pressures on the public health grant and Adult Social Care, exacerbated by increased demand, demographic growth, and the cost of living crisis.
• Ensuring effective systems integration with the Integrated Care System (ICS) and Tower Hamlets Together .
• Balancing care needs with NHS contributions.
• Responding to changes within the NHS landscape and the Integrated Care Board (ICB).
• Market management, moving away from spot arrangements and waivers.

Dr. Somen Banerjee, Director of Public Health, highlighted the ongoing impact of deprivation, housing, employment, and poverty on health in Tower Hamlets, noting significant burdens of substance misuse and increasing mental health pressures post-COVID. He also pointed to earlier onset of long-term conditions like diabetes and heart disease, and rising adult social care pressures, particularly among under-65s and the Bangladeshi community. Older people in Tower Hamlets experience high levels of income deprivation, contributing to complex care needs.

Councillor Amina Ali asked about the impact of air quality and pollution on health outcomes. Officers noted a recent London-level report indicating improvements in air quality, though direct correlation with health outcomes is difficult to demonstrate.

Health Partners' Successes, Priorities, and Challenges

Representatives from NHS North East London (NHS NEL) / Integrated Care Board (ICB), Barts Health NHS Trust, and East London Foundation Trust (ELFT) presented their work.

NHS North East London / Integrated Care Board (NHS NEL / ICB): Jo Frazer-Wise, Neighbourhood Development Director, outlined changes within NHS NEL, focusing on strategic commissioning and the National Neighbourhoods Framework.

• Achievements: Strong primary care performance, including nationally recognised work with public health and Primary Care Networks (PCNs) on the Communities Keeping Well programme.
• Challenges: Rapid population growth, increasing complexity, and primary care pressures, including large numbers of patients without a confirmed GP practice.
• Priorities for 2026/27: Securing recurrent funding for Same Day Access contracts, recruiting GP leadership for the neighbourhood programme, increasing online access and use of the NHS App, and supporting PCNs in developing the Neighbourhood Health Framework.

Councillor Abdul Wahid raised questions about data management, culturally sensitive services, demand management, and benchmarking. Officers confirmed that data is managed within national frameworks, with local servers for secure storage. They acknowledged the challenge of providing culturally sensitive services in a diverse borough and committed to providing detailed benchmarking data.

Barts Health NHS Trust: Daniel Northam-Jones, Deputy Chief Executive, presented on Accident and Emergency (A&E) performance and acute care.

• Achievements: Improved four-hour A&E performance to 78%, recognised nationally and securing additional funding. Initiatives include enhanced ambulance patient journeys, expanded Same Day Emergency Care pathways, and improved patient flow through technology.
• Priorities for 2026/27: Meeting the national target of 82% four-hour A&E performance, reducing ambulance attendances through remote coordination, strengthening collaboration between A&E and primary care, and improving patient flow.
• Acute Care: Focus on quality, patient flow, meeting urgent/emergency care demands, reducing waiting lists for elective patients, and prevention. Challenges include workforce pressures, increased demand for urgent care (especially for mental health needs), and meeting patient expectations.

Councillor Abdul Wahid inquired about data management and control, and the pressure on trusts to decouple from certain companies. Officers explained that data management adheres to national frameworks, with local discretion over sharing granular data.

East London Foundation Trust (ELFT): Dean Giovanna Bari, Director of Mental Health and Learning Disability, discussed mental health services.

• Achievements: Continued success with discharge to assess programmes, reducing the number of well individuals occupying hospital beds. Significant reduction in the length of stay for mental health patients, enabling them to receive care closer to home. Opening of a neighbourhood mental health centre in Tower Hamlets, showing positive engagement increases, particularly within the Asian population.
• Priorities for 2026/27: Reducing waiting times in emergency departments, further reducing inpatient length of stay, scaling up neighbourhood mental health centres, addressing waiting lists for ADHD and autism in young people, and expanding school mental health teams. A new joint mental health strategy for Tower Hamlets is also being developed.
• Key Aspirations: Establishing neighbourhood mental health centres across Tower Hamlets, ensuring immediate bed availability for mental health service users in A&E, and reducing inequalities for the global majority presenting in crisis pathways.

Councillor Abdul Wahid asked about the work with young people in schools and strategies for engagement. ELFT confirmed investment in schools with health professionals providing support, earlier identification of mental health issues, and outreach work. The trust also highlighted efforts to combat stigma through working with faith organisations and recruiting from diverse communities.

Draft Scrutiny Work Programme 2026/27

The committee discussed the draft scrutiny work programme for the 2026/27 municipal year. Jilly Szymanski, Scrutiny Officer, outlined the process for developing the programme, emphasizing that it is member-led. Potential topics for spotlights, challenge sessions, or scrutiny reviews were presented, including CQC inspection findings, cancer screening programmes, winter pressures, transitions from children's to adult services, maternity action plans, neighbourhood health teams, commissioning approaches post-ICB restructure, support for those with No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF), mental health and substance misuse strategies, GP access, and updates from Healthwatch and the Safeguarding Adults Board.

Members were encouraged to provide suggestions for the work programme, with deadlines for input noted for upcoming meetings. The final work programme will be agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in September.

The meeting concluded with the Chair thanking all attendees and partners for their contributions. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 September 2026.