The Bromley Council Health and Wellbeing Board was scheduled to meet on 26 June 2025 to discuss a number of strategies and plans relating to health and wellbeing in the borough. These included the Bromley Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the Learning Disabilities Strategy, the Suicide Prevention Plan, and the Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Strategy. Also on the agenda was neighbourhood health service development in Bromley, and a review of the board's work programme.

Bromley Suicide Prevention Plan 2025-30

The board was scheduled to discuss the Bromley Suicide Prevention Plan 2025-30, which aims to reduce suicide and self-harm in the borough.

The plan sets out three ambitions:

• To reduce the suicide rate in Bromley over the next five years
• To improve support for people who have self-harmed
• To improve support for people bereaved by suicide

To achieve these ambitions, the plan identifies six priority areas for action:

• Improve data and evidence to ensure that effective, evidence-informed and timely interventions continue to be adapted
• Provide tailored, targeted support to priority groups, including those at higher risk. This includes children and young people, men, people who have self-harmed, people in contact with mental health services, people in contact with the justice system, autistic and neurodiverse people, pregnant women and new mothers
• Address common risk factors linked to suicide at a population level by providing early intervention and tailored support. These can include physical illness, financial difficulty, economic adversity, gambling, alcohol and drug misuse, social isolation and loneliness, domestic abuse
• Reduce access to means and methods of suicide where this is appropriate and necessary as an intervention to prevent suicides
• Provide effective bereavement support to those affected by suicide
• Make suicide prevention everybody's business so that we can maximise the collective impact and support to prevent suicides

The plan also highlights a number of actions that will be developed, including:

• Creating an annual Month of Hope in September, an opportunity to raise awareness and reduce stigma around suicide and aim to make suicide prevention 'everybody's business'
• Creating a comprehensive list of services, support and training for people in Bromley
• Creating a toolkit for employers, including support and postvention support for employees
• Reviewing the membership and Terms of Reference for an effective and impactful Suicide Prevention Steering Group for Bromley that brings together partners and has oversight of the action plan
• Supporting with the development of a reflective practice space for professionals working within Suicide Prevention/Support
• Working to promote awareness of suicide prevention training and resources, increase knowledge of best language to use when talking about suicide, and work to reduce stigma around suicide to encourage help seeking behaviours.

The board was to be asked to formally launch the plan on 10 September 2025 as part of the Month of Hope.

Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Strategy 2025-2030

The board was scheduled to discuss the Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley (LSLBB) Sexual and Reproductive Health and HIV Strategy 2025-2030. The strategy outlines four themes:

• Healthy and fulfilling sexual relationships
• Improving reproductive health
• Reducing the rates of sexually transmitted infections
• Preventing and living well with HIV

The strategy aims to ensure that people are empowered to make their sexual relationships healthy and fulfilling, that people effectively manage their reproductive health, understand what impacts it and have knowledge of and access to contraception, that the local burden of STIs is reduced, especially among those who are disproportionately affected, and that the boroughs move towards achievement of 0–0–0: zero HIV-related stigma, zero HIV transmissions and zero HIV related deaths.

The board was to note that a Bromley level action plan would be developed by Bromley Council Public Health, following finalisation of the strategy.

Bromley Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025-30

The Bromley Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025-2030 sets out a vision for mental health and wellbeing services in the borough. It was noted that the previous Bromley Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2020-25) had delivered shorter waiting times for mental health services, established new partnerships between the NHS and voluntary sector, and helped more people with long-term mental health challenges to live independently.

The new strategy is underpinned by an independent assessment of local mental health need in the borough, and has been developed and shaped by Bromley residents who rely on good mental health services.

The strategy is built around four key themes:

• Living well with mental health challenges
• Resilient communities
• Joined-up care, education, health and housing services
• Best use of community and public resources

The strategy also sets out five key priorities:

• More targeted community prevention and early intervention services
• Helping children and young people with mental health and emotional wellbeing challenges to thrive
• Joined-up, safe transitions from children's to adult's mental health and wellbeing services
• Better recovery outcomes for people with long-term mental health challenges
• Improved outcomes for older people with mental health challenges and dementia

The board was asked to note the report, and the Council's Executive was recommended to approve the strategy.

Learning Disabilities Strategy 2025 – 2030

The Learning Disabilities Strategy 2025 – 2030 sets out a vision for empowering people with learning disabilities to lead fulfilling and independent lives.

The strategy is built around five core themes:

• Being Positively Prepared for Adulthood
• Our Communities
• A Healthy Life
• A Good Home
• Learning, Work and Independence

These themes are to be led by co-production groups, ensuring that the voices of people living in Bromley with a learning disability are empowered and that people have choice and control over their own lives and decisions.

The board was asked to note the report, and the Council's Executive was recommended to approve the strategy.

Neighbourhood Health Service Development in Bromley

The board was scheduled to receive an update on the implementation of neighbourhood working in Bromley.

The vision for neighbourhood working is to deliver integrated services across health, social, voluntary and community organisations, providing holistic, person-centred care, with a focus on prevention and care closer to home embedded in local communities.

The report stated that the 2025/2026 national planning guidance highlights the importance of neighbourhood-based service models and requires Integrated Care Boards and providers to focus on:

• Reducing demand through developing Neighbourhood models with an immediate focus on preventing long and costly admissions to hospital / residential care and improving timely access to urgent and emergency care
• Making full use of digital solutions and tools to drive the shift from analogue to digital
• Addressing inequalities and shift towards prevention, including reducing loneliness and falls

The report also referred to the London context, highlighting the Target Operating Model and Case for Change, which outline the next steps for London neighbourhoods.

Matters Outstanding and Work Programme

Finally, the board was scheduled to review its work programme and consider progress on matters outstanding from previous meetings.