The Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Health met to discuss the West and North London Corporate Strategy and Involvement Framework, and to review the committee's work programme for the upcoming year. The committee was presented with detailed information on the proposed strategy, which aims to improve health outcomes for 4.5 million residents across 13 boroughs by focusing on prevention, early intervention, and integrated care.

West and North London Corporate Strategy and Involvement Framework

A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to considering the West and North London Corporate Strategy and Involvement Framework. This strategy, developed over two years of engagement with residents, staff, and stakeholders, outlines a vision for the future of health and care services in the region. The framework aims to bend the three curves simultaneously – improving population health outcomes, reducing avoidable demand on services, and ensuring a sustainable financial trajectory.

The strategy acknowledges that while life expectancy in West and North London has remained relatively flat, healthy life expectancy has fallen, leading to a widening gap between lifespan and healthspan. It highlights substantial inequalities in health outcomes, with significant variations between different neighbourhoods and boroughs. The report pack indicated that there is a risk of a two-track health system emerging, where those with resources can access private alternatives, while others are left with longer periods of ill health and increased dependency on pressured services.

The strategy proposes a shift from reactive treatment to proactive, community-first care, with a focus on six priority population groups: early years and family support, young people, people at risk of or living with early-stage long-term conditions (LTCs), adults with complexity, adults with serious mental illness (SMI), and end-of-life care. Key care model shifts include neighbourhood health provision, planned care transformation through community-first pathways, and the use of new technology.

The report pack also detailed the engagement process undertaken to develop the strategy, including surveys, in-depth conversations with community leaders, and workshops. Emerging themes from this engagement included the importance of early involvement and co-production, valuing lived experience, closing the feedback loop, building trust and transparency, ensuring inclusion and accessibility, fostering community partnerships, offering multiple ways to participate, and providing recognition and support for participation.

The committee was also asked to consider the development of a new three-year public involvement framework for 2027-30. This framework is intended to set out how the Integrated Care Board (ICB) will listen to feedback, make involvement more inclusive, support the ICB's 10-year strategy, and ensure public insight influences commissioning decisions.

Work Programme 2026-27

The committee was presented with a draft work programme for the 2026-27 period. This programme outlined a series of planned meetings and the topics scheduled for discussion. These included updates from the West and North London ICB, discussions on strategies such as the Work Well Strategy, and updates on specific projects like the Whittington Health NHS Trust Quality Account. Future meetings were scheduled to cover topics such as winter planning, the NCL Health Inequalities Fund, and updates on hospital mergers and programmes. The draft work programme also included potential items for future consideration, such as digital service provision in the NHS and an update on inequalities work being carried out by Imperial University.

The meeting was attended by Councillor Joseph Croft (Chair of Health & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee) and Councillor Kiran Prasad.