The Staffordshire Health and Wellbeing Board met on Thursday 3 September 2026 to discuss the Staffordshire Better Care Fund update and health and well-being priorities. The meeting noted progress on the Better Care Fund metrics and the submission of the 2026/27 plan on a caveated basis, while also noting a recommendation to extend the current Health and Well-being Strategy for an additional year.

Staffordshire Better Care Fund Update

Rosanne Cororan, Senior Commissioner Manager for the County Council, provided an update on the Staffordshire Better Care Fund (BCF). The Board noted the 2025/26 performance metrics, which indicated that emergency admissions for people aged 65+ were above the planned target, primarily due to diabetic complications, COPD, and congestive heart failure. Discharge delays also did not meet the target, with variability in length of stay between providers identified as a concern. However, the long-term support needs of older people met by admission to residential and nursing care homes were on track.

For the 2026/27 BCF plan, the Board noted its submission and approval by NHS England on a caveated basis, due to an ongoing dispute regarding the apportionment of the former Integrated Care Board Adult Social Care Discharge Grant allocation. A Section 75 agreement for the 2026/27 BCF must be in place by 30 September 2026. The plan includes continued existing schemes and new initiatives such as a Directory of Services platform for care providers, a Fire Discharge Service in East Staffordshire, and a Palliative Crisis Avoidance, Response and Management Service. The total BCF funding for 2026/27 is £156,433,027.

During the discussion, Jackie Owen from Healthwatch inquired about patient and public involvement in the determination and evaluation of new and existing schemes. Rosanne Cororan explained that feedback mechanisms were used for existing schemes, and while business cases for new schemes were largely ICB-led, the Council had taken feedback into account. Concerns were also raised about preparedness for Local Government Reorganisation in 2028, with assurances that the BCF plan was expected to remain similar in the following year.

Health and Wellbeing Priorities

Emma Sandbach, Consultant in Public Health, presented an update on the health and well-being priorities. The Staffordshire Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2027 is due to expire in 2027, but due to upcoming Local Government Reorganisation and the potential replacement of Health and Wellbeing Strategies with Neighbourhood Health Plans under the Health and Care Bill 2026, it was recommended that the current strategy and its priorities be extended for one year to 31 March 2028.

The current priorities are: Health in early life, Good mental health, Healthy weight, and Healthy ageing. Of the 29 indicators monitored, 20 remain similar to the baseline, seven have shown improvements (including reductions in smoking in pregnancy and hospital admissions for intentional self-harm), one has deteriorated (proportion of children achieving a 9-5 pass in Maths and English at key stage 4), and one has no further data. The recommendation to extend the strategy was noted by the Board.

Councillor Martin Rogerson, Cabinet Member for Health and Care, highlighted the importance of prevention and suggested that weight loss should be a key priority, sharing his personal success in losing seven stone. He also emphasised the need to consider the different comorbidities in various areas of Staffordshire and to pool local knowledge.

The Board also noted the SHWB Strategy - Quarterly Data update for August 2026 as an information item. The date of the next meeting was set for Tuesday 1 December 2026.