The City of London Corporation Health and Wellbeing Board was scheduled to meet on 11 July 2025 to discuss a range of public health issues, including water stress, support for rough sleepers, and embedding health equity. The board was also expected to receive updates on the adult ADHD service and the work of Healthwatch City of London.

Here's a summary of the topics that were included in the report pack for discussion:

Meeting the Health Needs of Rough Sleepers

The board was scheduled to receive a report on how the City of London addresses the health needs of people rough sleeping in the area. The report pack noted that people experiencing homelessness often face significant health inequalities, including early-onset geriatric conditions and high rates of unplanned hospital admissions.

The report pack stated that between 2020 and 2024, 1,523 individuals were recorded rough sleeping in the Square Mile, with 656 of those seen in 2023/24 alone. Of those, only 477 had accurate support needs recorded, including disabilities, physical and mental health needs.

The report pack highlighted the work of the Community Wellbeing Team (CWT), a mobile unit that provides health checks and support to rough sleepers in the City of London. The CWT operates in partnership with the Greenhouse Practice and Turning Point.

The report pack also noted some of the challenges faced by the CWT, including the reluctance of individuals to travel to engage with services and the lack of a full clinical space in the mobile unit.

The report pack included the North East London Homeless Health Strategy 2025–2030, which sets out a vision for improving health and social outcomes for people experiencing homelessness through integrated health, care and housing pathways.

Water Stress and Health

The board was scheduled to discuss a joint report from Dr Sandra Husbands, Director of Public Health, and Katie Stewart, Executive Director, Environment, on the implications of water stress on health. The report pack noted that climate change is exacerbating water stress, which occurs when the demand for water exceeds the available amount.

The report pack stated that water stress can impact public health in several ways, including:

• Limited water affects hygiene, increasing the risk of infectious diseases.
• People may use untreated alternative sources, raising contamination risks.
• Low water flow can reduce quality and dilution of pollutants.
• Drought and reduced vegetation can worsen air quality.

The report pack noted that London's water system is complex, with the supply mainly taken from the Thames and Lea rivers, and a proportion abstracted from the aquifer below the capital. The report pack stated that by 2050, nearly 5 billion extra litres of water per day will be required to support population growth, the economy, food production, and the environment.

The report pack included several recommendations for potential actions, including:

• Reviewing drought preparedness
• Promoting awareness and uptake of utility company priority services registers
• Conducting a joint emergency exercise to test and evaluate organisational drought response plans
• Exchanging knowledge and sharing best practices on water efficiency and management strategies
• Developing collaborative public campaigns to raise awareness of water use and conservation

MATCH Project on Embedding Health Equity

The board was scheduled to receive a report on the eMbedding heAlth equiTy in City & Hackney (MATCH) programme. The report pack stated that the MATCH programme has been developed as a tool to engage with system partners about health inequalities and population health, and to support the workforce to embed a health equity approach.

The report pack noted that each year the MATCH programme looks at key areas where deep health inequalities exist within City and Hackney, and invites partners across the statutory and voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors to work together in a participatory process collaborating on areas for change.

The report pack provided updates from the five programme areas from year 1: anti-racist commissioning, food poverty, maternity, prevention of poor outcomes from cardiovascular disease and women's health, including funded change projects. The report pack also provided updates from the three programme areas from year 2: mental health support for people seeking asylum, healthy weight pathways and children and young people's mental health.

The report pack stated that emerging findings from the ongoing evaluation show that the value of MATCH lies in the connections, collaboration and trust built across communities and partners. The report pack also included a proposed outline for year 3 of the programme.

First Aid Interventions

The board was scheduled to discuss a joint report from Dr Sandra Husbands, Director of Public Health, and Judith Finlay, Executive Director, Community and Children's Services, on first aid interventions. The report pack noted that physical trauma and out of hospital cardiac arrest are two of the leading causes of death and disability in the UK.

The report pack stated that reducing the time before first aid, including the application of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED), can significantly increase survival rates. The report pack also noted that increasing training, awareness and confidence to use first aid skills amongst staff, businesses and members of the public along with increasing access to first aid kits, trauma kits and AEDs can help reduce death and disability.

The report pack noted that the London Ambulance Service (LAS) has established London Lifesavers which aims to increase CPR training and give members of the public the confidence to use a Public Access Defib (PAD). The report pack also noted that the City of London Police has developed a specification for Emergency Trauma Packs (ETPs), and that over 100 ETPs are located in businesses and major attractions within the City of London.

Adult ADHD Service Update

The board was scheduled to receive a report on the City and Hackney Adult ADHD Service. The report pack stated that demand for ADHD services far exceeds the system's capacity to deliver them. The report pack noted that the waiting time for patients is currently at around six years and the current caseload is circa 2000 people.

The report pack stated that service leads are taking measures to try to mitigate the high demand and inadequate resource, including augmenting sparse resource with Special Interest doctors, local GPs taking on Annual ADHD medication reviews, and training GPs to undertake assessments.

Healthwatch City of London Progress Report

The board was scheduled to receive a progress report from Gail Beer, Chair of Healthwatch City of London. The report pack detailed the work of Healthwatch City of London for Q1 2025/26, and noted that the Healthwatch team continue to operate from the Portsoken Community Centre and through hybrid working.

The report pack stated that Healthwatch City of London held a Board meeting in public in June 2025, and outlined their key priorities for the year, which are:

• Deliver 10 patient panels to inform service users about Health and Social care topics that are important to them.
• Hold a summer information event in June and their AGM in October.
• Undertake two research projects: Emergency pathways at Barts Health and UCLH, and access to dentistry in the City.
• Carry out an Enter and View at the Physiotherapy department at St Leonards Hospital.
• Increase engagement with the Portsoken community.
• Maintain, train and utilise a dedicated team of volunteers.
• Scrutinise how the City of London Corporation awards and monitors its contracts for Social Care provision.

The report pack also noted that Healthwatch City of London held the public launch of the digital apps report 'Digital Apps: A help or hindrance? Understanding and accessing digital healthcare apps' in April. The report pack stated that Healthwatch City of London have agreed to set up and manage an Adult Social Care Advisory group following a request from the City of London Corporation. The report pack also noted that Healthwatch City of London undertook an Enter and View visit to the Neaman Practice on 13th February 2025.