The Doncaster Health and Wellbeing Board met on 5 June 2025 to discuss ways to improve the experience of ageing in Doncaster, and to endorse the budget allocations for the Better Care Fund (BCF) for 2025/26. The board was also scheduled to appoint a vice-chair for the 2025-26 municipal year.

Improving the experience of ageing

The Health and Wellbeing Board was scheduled to discuss the theme of enhancing the experience of ageing, which is one of the three strategic priorities outlined in the Doncaster Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

The report pack stated that the Health and Wellbeing Board would be supported in a discussion that places the voices of residents at its core, drawing on insights gathered through comprehensive community engagement. The session would also review the progress made in developing age-friendly communities across the borough. Furthermore, it would seek to address two fundamental questions:

what kind of society do we aspire to create for Doncaster residents as they age, and how can the Board influence its own organisations to become more responsive, inclusive, and proactive in achieving this vision?

The board was asked to identify opportunities for collaboration both as individual leaders, and within its own organisations, to implement the recommendations identified within this area of focus.

Better Care Fund

The Health and Wellbeing Board was scheduled to note the content of a report on the Better Care Fund planning template 2025-26, and to endorse the budget allocations for 2025/26.

The Better Care Fund is a shared budget between Doncaster Council and South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board to improve health and social care services. The goal is to help people live healthier, more independent lives, and reduce the need for hospital care.

The BCF annual plan requires sign off by the Health and Wellbeing Board with regards to BCF planning requirements and financial allocations for 2025-26.

BCF funded activity mainly supports working age and older adults to stay well for longer and prevent health problems from getting worse and help people to live at home and avoid unnecessary hospital stays, support includes:

• Providing timely support for people with complex needs.
• Using home adaptations and technology.
• Support for unpaid carers.
• Preventing avoidable hospital admissions.
• Helping people leave hospital quickly and safely to recover at home, reducing the time people wait to leave hospital after they are ready.
• Reducing the number of people needing long-term care homes.
• Reducing the number of emergency hospital admissions, especially those related to falls or ongoing conditions.
• Reducing the number of people needing to move into a care home long-term.

The report pack stated that if BCF planning documents were not completed, then regional and national assurance cannot be granted and approval letters for funding cannot be issued.

Other items

The meeting was also scheduled to cover:

• Welcome, introductions and apologies for absence
• Appointment of Vice-Chair for the 2025-26 Municipal Year
• Chair's Announcements.
• To consider the extent, if any, to which the public and press are to be excluded from the meeting.
• Declarations of Interest, if any.
• Public questions.
• Minutes of the Meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board held on 13th March 2025