The Lambeth Together Care Partnership Board met on 5 September 2024 and received updates from several areas of the partnership, including the Place Executive Lead, the Substance Misuse Programme, the Homewards Project, the Primary Care Commissioning Committee, and the Assurance Group.

The Lambeth Together Place Executive Lead Report

The Place Executive Lead for Lambeth Together, Andrew Eyres, presented a report that updated the Board on key developments since their last meeting in July. Mr Eyres discussed the impact of the recent general election, noting the new government's priorities for economic stability, growth, and the NHS, as well as outlining several parliamentary bills relevant to the Partnership's work, including the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, Mental Health Act Reform Bill, Children’s Wellbeing Bill, Draft Conversion Practices Bill, Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, and Employment Rights Bill. He went on to address leadership changes, including the appointment of Councillor Jacqui Dyer as the new Lambeth Together Co-Chair following the election of former Co-Chair, Councillor Jim Dickson, as MP for Dartford. He also noted other new Board members, including Sarah Flanagan as Patient and Public Voice member, Jasmina Lijesevic as Lay Member, and Folake Segun as interim Chief Executive of Healthwatch Lambeth. The Board noted Mr Eyres's report.

Substance Misuse Deep Dive

The Board then heard a deep dive into the Substance Misuse Programme and Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP). Ese Iyasere, Public Health Consultant, Lambeth Council, explained that the Partnership's approach to combating drug and alcohol addiction is based on the 2021 national 10-year Drug Strategy, From Harm to Hope. The Strategy’s six overarching outcomes are to reduce drug-related crime, reduce harm, reduce overall use, reduce supply, increase engagement in treatment, and improve long-term recovery. Rob Carrick, Lead Commissioner for Substance Misuse, Lambeth Council, discussed the increase in adults accessing substance misuse services, and Jamie Shovlin, Lead Manager for the Lambeth Street Engagement Team at Thames Reach, outlined the work that his team does. The Board noted this report.

Homewards Project

The Board heard a presentation from Michael Corbishley, Head of Local Delivery for the Homewards Project, a five-year, locally led programme that aims to end homelessness in the UK by making it rare, brief, and unrepeated. Mr Corbishley described how Lambeth was chosen as a Homewards location due to the local will and commitment to end homelessness, the unique demographic challenges presented by the Borough, and the presence of existing opportunities to quickly galvanise and develop inspiring projects. He went on to describe the financial inclusion, data collection, employment, and housing goals of the Project. Mr Corbishley highlighted the Project's successful collaboration with Pret a Manger to expand the company’s Rising Stars programme, which aims to help break the cycle of homelessness by providing support, training, and employment opportunities for those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. He stated that the Project's goals for 2024 are to build an increased awareness around homelessness, drive optimism that it can be ended, and build a visible momentum of impact, both nationally and locally. The Board considered and provided feedback on the presentation.

Primary Care Commissioning Committee

The Board was updated on discussions held at the Primary Care Commissioning Committee (PCCC) on 17 July 2024. The Board ratified all of the decisions made by the PCCC, including the approval of a mini-competition to procure a new provider of interpreting and translation services for Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham; the approval of a succession plan for the existing partners at The Corner Surgery GP Practice on the premise that practice resilience is addressed in a revised document; approval of changes in the Clinical Director leadership and the Primary Care Network (PCN) Map; approval of the flu trajectory recommendations for 2024/25, with a target of 60% uptake for those over 65 and 32.9% uptake for those under 65; and the approval of a proposal to re-procure the EZ Analytics Population Health Management Tool for a further year.

Lambeth Together Assurance Group

The Board then received an update on the Assurance Group meeting that took place on 16 July 2024. Warren Beresford, Associate Director for Health and Care Planning and Intelligence at the South East London Integrated Care Board, updated the Board on the impact measures included in the Integrated Assurance Report. It was noted that the report now tracks the revised impact measures approved by the Board in July, now includes performance trends over time for these impact measures, and has been made more manageable by introducing a “Key Headlines” section highlighting one or two key points for each of the fifteen outcomes covered. The Board noted the Assurance Group's report.

Integrated Neighbourhood Working

Finally, the Board heard a presentation on the Neighbourhood and Wellbeing Delivery Alliance’s (NWDA) Integrated Neighbourhood Working plans. Oge Chesa, Director of Primary Care and Transformation for the South East London Integrated Care Board, and Josepha Reynolds, Programme Director for the NWDA, explained that the Alliance has three delivery priorities for 2024/25: working with communities, long term conditions, and place-based working. They noted that this focus aligns with the Lambeth Together’s five-year health and care plan, Our Health, Our Lambeth, which states that “people have access to joined-up and holistic health and care delivered in their neighbourhoods.” The Board noted the presentation and agreed the NWDA’s two proposed priority areas: the implementation at Place of the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS) Primary Care Proposition on Frailty and Ageing Well, and the integration and transformation of the 111 service for same-day access.