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Summary
The Derbyshire Health and Wellbeing Board was scheduled to meet on 17 July 2025 to discuss a number of health and wellbeing issues in Derbyshire. These included the Better Care Fund, mental health services, and a pharmaceutical needs assessment. The board was also scheduled to receive updates from the Health Protection Board and the Integrated Care Partnership.
Better Care Fund
The board was scheduled to discuss the Derbyshire Better Care Fund (BCF) Plan 2025-26, and the Derbyshire Better Care Fund Q3 and Q4 report.
The BCF is a programme that supports local systems to integrate health and social care, with the aim of providing person-centred care and better outcomes for people and carers. The BCF programme is a collaboration between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Local Government Association (LGA).
The BCF policy framework for 2025/26 is focused on:
- shifting from treating sickness to prevention
- supporting people to live independently, shifting care from hospitals to home
The plan includes the following key priorities for 2025/26:
- Developing a single Care Transfer Hub to link health and social care services to coordinate care and support to aid discharge, recovery and avoid re-admission.
- Exploring opportunities for further integration of Derbyshire Community Health Services and Derbyshire County Council Adult Social Care rehabilitation service to create a more streamlined Discharge to Assess/ Intermediate Care pathway.
- Further develop the availability of Community Support Beds to support discharge and improve outcomes, minimise readmittance to hospital and to increase the chance of people being able to return home with or without support.
- Work with housing partners to continue to deliver the ambitions of the all-age Accommodation Strategy.
- To develop a Technology Enabled Care (TEC) strategy during 2025/26 to promote independence and support a preventative, personalised and strengths-based approach to care.
- Implementation of a large complex whole system transformation programme that is focused on improving service capability and capacity.
- The next phases of Falls Management and Prevention work in 2025/26 will focus on expanding the service offer to include emergency department (ED) alternative pathways for minor injury and illness falls.
- During 2025/26 refresh the current Carers Strategy, ensuring alignment of BCF funded commissioned carers support services and ongoing reorganisation and provision of short break and respite care for dementia carers.
- We will significantly increase our step-up Virtual Ward capacity, which will be designed to work within our Neighbourhood Health way of working.
- During 2025/26 our Joint Commissioning programme of work will develop a joint commissioning strategy for our voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector that further strengthens our partnership with the VCFSE, creates longer term resilience and sustainability for the sector and importantly optimises the collective benefits to be realised through the Neighbourhood Health model of care in Derbyshire.
The board was also scheduled to discuss the Derbyshire Better Care Fund Q3 and Q4 report, which provided an update on the performance of the BCF against its planned outcomes and outputs.
Mental Health and Neurodevelopmental Services
The board was scheduled to receive an update on mental health and neurodevelopmental health services in Derbyshire. The report was to be presented by Mark Powell, CEO of Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, on behalf of Joined up Care Derbyshire.
The report set out to provide the board with an overview of mental health services and neurodevelopmental services (such as learning disabilities and autism services) in Derbyshire. It also included a presentation about children's and young people's mental health services with a particular focus on schools.
The report noted that many mental health and neurodevelopmental services are meeting or exceeding their targets. It also noted that services are rated more highly than at any point since the modern inspection framework began.
The report highlighted a number of challenges, including:
- Sustained high demand for services
- The need for out-of-area placements
- Discharge delays
- Financial pressures
- Potential de-prioritisation of mental health and neurodevelopmental services
Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment
The board was scheduled to note the progress of the requirement to prepare and publish a revised Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) by 1 October 2025.
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 transferred the responsibility for developing and revising Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments (PNAs) from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) from 1 April 2013. The HWB is required to prepare and publish a revised PNA by 1 October 2025. The Derby and Derbyshire PNA Steering Group is overseeing the development of a revised PNA.
The PNA went out to public consultation for 60 days starting 23 June 2025. Feedback from the consultation will be incorporated into the final PNA document before its publication by 1 October 2025.
The Derbyshire Health and Wellbeing Board role in being invited to comment on pharmacy applications is to represent and feedback the facts contained in the PNA around the needs of the Derbyshire Population. The Health and Wellbeing Board focuses on what is within the PNA to form a response to the pharmacy application.
Health Protection Board Update
The board was scheduled to note the key discussions and messages arising at the Derbyshire Health Protection Board from its meetings on 14 March and 16 May 2025.
The Health Protection Board is a sub-group of the Derbyshire Health and Wellbeing Board. Its purpose is to provide assurance to the Health and Wellbeing Boards of Derbyshire County and Derby City that adequate arrangements are in place for the prevention, surveillance, planning and response required to protect the health of the residents of Derby City and Derbyshire County.
The following non-confidential key updates were provided during the business of the meetings on 14 March and 16 May 2025:
- Reviewed current performance for screening and immunisation programmes and received an update on proposals for the delegation of commissioning responsibilities for aspects of the programmes to Integrated Care Boards from NHS England.
- Received an update to the childhood vaccine schedule to be introduced in July 2025 and January 2026.
- Received an update on the roll out of pre-exposure Mpox vaccination, and gonorrhoea vaccination through sexual health services from late summer 2025.
- An update was provided on the Antenatal and new-born screening programme incident which resulted in parents of babies born with sickle cell and other abnormal haemoglobinopathy carrier status not being informed of their child's carrier status, and actions being taken by NHS England and Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board as a result of the investigation into the incident.
- An update was provided on healthcare acquired infections performance, and development of a new specification for community Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). The risks regarding current gaps in provision and that clarity is still required on current and future commissioning arrangements for community IPC services were discussed.
- An update was provided on the development of a local pandemic plan.
- Information was received on additional areas assessed against the Health Protection Assurance Framework: Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response; Communicable disease; Surveillance; and Data Sharing and notification processes, and actions agreed to progress recommendations.
- An update was provided on current communicable disease epidemiology, and incidents of national, regional and local interest currently being managed by UKHSA.
- A copy of the risk register was reviewed and updated at the meetings.
Health and Wellbeing Round Up
The board was scheduled to receive a round-up of key progress in relation to health and wellbeing issues and projects not covered elsewhere on the agenda.
The round-up included updates on:
- County Place Partnership
- Integrated Care Partnership
- State of ageing summary 2025
- Space to breathe: findings from a survey of smokefree policies and tobacco dependence treatment services in NHS mental health trusts in England, 2024
- UK's first RSV vaccination programme protects older people
- Health inequalities in health protection report 2025
- Social housing campaign
- Notification of pharmacy applications
- Healthwatch Intelligence
- Health and Wellbeing Board Development Session
- Health and Wellbeing Board Terms of Reference
- Attendance at Health and Wellbeing Board meetings
- Performance reporting to the Health and Wellbeing Board
- Children and Young People Mental Health Needs Assessment
The round-up also included notification of the following pharmacy applications:
- Change to supplementary hours: PCT Healthcare Limited, 14 The Green, North Wingfield, Chesterfield, S42 5LQ. Supplementary hours will change from Monday to Friday 18:00 - 18:30 and Saturday 09:00 - 12:30 to Monday to Friday Nil and Saturday 09:00 - 12:30, with effect on 05 May 2025.
- Please note the United Healthcare 4U Ltd previously at Unit 2, Mansfield Woodhouse gateway, Mansfield, NG19 9QH will start to provide pharmaceutical services from 28 The Village, Maisies way, South Normanton Alfreton, DE55 2DS on 28/04/2025.
- Please note that with effect from 2nd June 2025 the BKW Healthcare Ltd at Unit 3-5 Holme Court, Granby Road, Granby Croft, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1ET will be operated by Bakewell Healthcare Ltd.
The Healthwatch Intelligence section included a summary of recent feedback related to the mental health area of focus. The top theme for mental health was access to services. 39 comments, 65% were negative, 8 comments, 13% were positive. The rest were either mixed or neutral. The service we heard the most about was Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust. We also heard from community services such as Derbyshire Federation for Mental Health and Mindscapes.
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