Buckinghamshire Health and Wellbeing Board

Latest board updates

Headline updates from our March 2023 board meeting:

after an engagement period an Integrated Care Strategy to address the health and care needs of the people and communities of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West has been approved by the Integrated Care Board
The NHS are working on a Joint Forward Plan which will detail how they will deliver the priorities of the Integrated Care Strategy and our Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy over the next 5 years
we heard about the great work happening across the partners to help deliver the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy and reduce health inequalities across Buckinghamshire. This includes:
- Be Healthy Bucks - a free health and wellbeing service to help you make simple changes and feel the benefits of a healthy life
- earning vouchers for healthy activities through the Bucks Better Points app
- ways to reduce cardiovascular disease - see Love Your Heart Bucks

At our March 2023 board meeting we received questions about:

the System Winter Plan helps partners manage the increase in urgent and emergency care over October to March. There is support through the 111 service including advice on Strep A
the Director of Public Health presented this year’s annual report on preventing cardiovascular disease, which includes heart disease and stroke and what needs to be done to address it. The board agreed the recommendations. Read the full report
an Integrated Care Strategy to address the needs of the people and communities of Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West has been developed collaboratively and was discussed with the board. Initial priorities have been proposed and a period of public engagement will run to end of January 2023. You can have your say online or find out how to sign up for the webinar for Bucks residents on Monday 23 January
we signed off the Better Care Fund - Adult Social Care Discharge Fund to support the discharge of patients from hospital over the Winter period. Watch the discussion

At our December 2022 board meeting we received questions about:

Healthwatch social prescribing survey found that awareness of social prescribing was low, but people who had accessed the service were very positive about the benefits. Discussions arose around the importance of raising awareness in professional networks as well as with residents. Watch the discussion.
Matt Powls, ICB Interim Executive Place Director, shared the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) 2022-2025 which found that Buckinghamshire is well served in relation to the number and location of pharmacies. To find out more information on how the assessment was carried out, read the full report (PDF, 5.3 MB).
We discussed our refreshed iterative Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. This focuses on a limited number of key priorities in order to deliver long-term improvement in health in some of the most challenging areas. Watch the discussion.

Matt Powls, Executive Place Director, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) Integrated Care System (ICS) spoke to the board about the changes taking place in the health system, integrated working between health and local government and how this will be communicated to residents. Watch the discussion
Engagement with residents remained a key topic throughout the meeting. Healthwatch Bucks would like to hear your views on social prescribing
See the health and wellbeing in your local area at Local Profiles (healthandwellbeingbucks.org)

Access to GPs has been raised as a local issue by residents. Our Primary Care colleagues gave us an update on the situation faced by our GPs and medical professionals. Watch the discussion and sign up on ModGov to receive update notifications on this issue.
Watch the discussion about our engagement strategy. If you have any suggested topics for discussion at future board meetings or ideas for how we can reach more residents, you can email us at [email protected]
Domestic abuse affects an estimated 21,000 adults per year (57 people every day) and makes up 15% of all recorded crime in Buckinghamshire. Watch our discussion about domestic abuse to find out more and see Buckinghamshire | Reducing the Risk for information on how to access services.