The West Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board were scheduled to meet to discuss the West Sussex Better Care Fund, the West Sussex Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy, and to review a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment for West Sussex. Also on the agenda was an update from the Children First Board, and an update from the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board on NHS reforms. It is important to note that this is only a summary of the topics scheduled to be discussed, and there is no information available about what was actually discussed or decided during the meeting.

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment

The Health and Wellbeing Board were scheduled to consider a West Sussex Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment 2025-2028. A Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment, or PNA, is a report that assesses the pharmaceutical needs of a community, and informs decisions about which pharmaceutical services are required. The board was asked to acknowledge that there was a statutory obligation to publish the PNA by 1 October 2025, to recognise that it had been developed in consultation with stakeholders, to note that it included recommendations for local NHS partners, and to approve the PNA for publication.

The PNA was developed by a steering group including representatives from West Sussex County Council (WSCC), the Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC), the Local Medical Committee (LMC), NHS Sussex, NHS South East Commissioning Hub and Healthwatch West Sussex. According to the draft PNA, data relating to housing developments were provided by West Sussex County Council planning officers, and consideration was given to the Equality Act 2010. A public consultation on the draft PNA ran for 61 days, and received 301 responses.

The report stated that it had not identified any gaps in service provision, using the criteria that adequate access to a pharmacy was defined as being within six miles or a 20-minute car journey. The report included the following recommendations for NHS Sussex:

• To monitor the need for services outside of standard weekday working hours.
• Commissioners should monitor coverage of existing and any new locally commissioned services.
• Pharmaceutical providers should be routinely involved in local discussions during the drafting of strategic plans and policies.
• Comments made by residents as part of the engagement for this PNA will be forwarded to relevant officers in NHS Sussex.

The PNA included a series of statements, as required by regulations, including that pharmaceutical services identified by the Health and Wellbeing Board as necessary to meet the needs for pharmaceutical services included all essential services, as well as the Pharmacy First advanced service.

West Sussex Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Alison Thomson, Public Health Strategy Manager, was scheduled to present a progress update on delivering the West Sussex Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025 to 2030. The Health and Wellbeing Board was asked to continue to work in partnership to implement and deliver the strategy by actively engaging in delivery groups for priority areas and to champion this work during the five-year period of the strategy.

The report stated that five Priority Area Delivery Groups had been established to focus on delivering the priority areas within the strategy, and the Board's commitment to reducing health inequalities, building resilient and connected communities, and to work in partnership to deliver the strategy. The five priority areas are:

• Food and nutrition
• School readiness
• Transitioning to adulthood children and young people's mental health and wellbeing
• Tobacco control
• Health and wellbeing in temporary accommodation.

The report also included the core terms of reference for the Priority Area Delivery Groups, stating that each group is responsible for nominating a chair and deputy chair, developing a programme of work and action plan, agreeing the scope of the programme, identifying links to other programmes, agreeing short and longer-term areas of focus, engaging with residents and communities, and agreeing key metrics and measures to measure progress.

Summary reports for delivery group meetings that had taken place were included for information. These included reports from the Tobacco Control Delivery Group, the Food and Nutrition Delivery Group, and the Health and Wellbeing in Temporary Accommodation Delivery Group.

Better Care Fund

The Board was scheduled to receive an update on the West Sussex Better Care Fund Plan 2025-26 and the national 2025-26 Q1 Report. The Better Care Fund encourages integration by requiring integrated care systems and local authorities to enter into pooled budget arrangements and agree on an annual integrated spending plan. The Health and Wellbeing Board was asked to note the update on the Better Care Fund Plan for 2025-26, and to approve the Better Care Fund 2025-26 Q1 Report.

The Q1 report included confirmation that West Sussex continues to meet Better Care Fund national conditions, an assessment of Q1 performance against the BCF metrics for emergency admissions, discharge delays, and residential admissions, with updated ambitions for emergency admissions and discharge delays aligned to finalised system plans, and simplified financial reporting confirming income from each of the funding sources. The report also confirmed the Minimum NHS Contribution underspend of £2,242,868 carried forward from 2024-25.

Integrated Care System

The Board was scheduled to receive an update from NHS Integrated Care representatives on Integrated Care System developments. Stephen Lightfoot, Chair of NHS Sussex, was scheduled to present a report summarising the latest progress in implementing the transition of NHS Sussex into a new Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board from 1 April 2026. The Health and Wellbeing Board was asked to note the update from NHS Sussex in response to the NHS Reforms and Neighbourhood Health.

The report stated that the Boards of the NHS Sussex and NHS Surrey Heartlands ICBs concluded that the only practical way to reliably fulfil their statutory and legal duties within the nationally-determined running cost allocation of £19 per head of weighted population, is to expand their geographical footprint across Sussex and the whole of Surrey. The report also stated that a joint proposal was submitted to NHS England by the NHS Sussex and NHS Surrey Heartlands Boards, which has now been agreed by NHSE and has received formal endorsement from Government Ministers.

The report stated that this change provides an opportunity to create a brand-new organisation, which brings together the best of both existing ICBs, to deliver the improved population health outcomes and reduce the health inequities that exist across the extended area. The report also stated that the new ICB for Surrey and Sussex will need to develop a new operating model which will be based on a set of core functions, and that some functions currently undertaken by ICBs will need to be transferred to the Department of Health and Social Care or NHSE Regions, some functions will transfer to other providers, and other functions will be hosted by one ICB on behalf of a group of ICBs.

The report also provided an update on delivering neighbourhood health through Integrated Community Teams in Sussex, stating that work continues on the implementation of the Government's 10 Year Health Plan and the delivery of the Sussex Improving Lives Together strategy, and that the formation of 13 Integrated Community Teams across Sussex is a key response to both of these strategic plans.

Children First Board

Daniel Ruaux, Executive Director of Children, Young People and Learning, was scheduled to provide an update from the Children First Board, a sub-group of the Health and Wellbeing Board. The Health and Wellbeing Board was asked to consider if there was any further information on the development of the refreshed Children and Young People Plan (2026 – 2029) which they would like.

The report stated that a 6-week public consultation was held, to ensure the refreshed plan would be shaped by lived experience and feedback from the communities served, and that this resulted in 682 replies, which included 275 responses from children and young people aged 12 – 24 years old and feedback separately from the SEND Young Voices group. The report also stated that the consultation responses were aligned to existing thinking and the 5 priority areas are as follows:

• Keeping children and young people safe from harm.
• Providing the earliest support to children, young people and families in greatest need.
• Reducing inequalities for children and young people.
• Improving children and young people's mental, emotional health and wellbeing.
• Working together with partners to identify and meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Other Business

• Councillor Bob Lanzer, Cabinet Member for Public Health and Wellbeing and Chair of the West Sussex Health and Wellbeing Board, was scheduled to welcome attendees to the meeting and to note a response from Stephen Kinnock MP, Minister of State for Care, on the Integrated Care System - Pressure points: Experiences of the cost-of-living on disabled people and carers in Sussex.
• The Board was also scheduled to confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Health and Wellbeing Board held on 10 July 2025, and to monitor/note the responses to Recommendations and Actions made at that meeting.
• Alison Challenger, Director of Public Health, was scheduled to provide a verbal update on current public health matters.
• The Board was scheduled to note the draft work programme for 2025/26 and to mention any items which they believe to be of relevance to the business of the Health and Wellbeing Board.
• The next meeting of the Board was scheduled to be held at 10.30am on 6 November 2025.