The meeting on the 4th of December 2024 by the Health and Care Partnership discussed a range of topics. Decisions were taken to note the planned use of the Smokefree Generation grant, to note the update from the BLMK Integrated Care Board, to note the initial learning from the Bletchley Pathfinder programme, to begin an annual independent review process of the 'Our ambition for health and social care' strategy, and to note the Council's forthcoming decision on the delivery of the MK Activity Rewards Programme. The Partnership also noted an update on the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment.

Smoke Free Generation Grant

The Partnership received a report on the Smoke Free Generation Grant, which detailed the planned use of an additional £375,145 per year, over five years, to support the council's Public Health team in achieving the ambition to be smoke-free by 2030. This funding, awarded by the Department of Health and Social Care, doubles the amount of funding that Milton Keynes City Council will be able to invest in reducing smoking. This is in addition to potential national legislative changes, funding for national tobacco marketing campaigns, the ‘Swap to Stop’ scheme, and financial incentives for pregnant smokers. The money is to be spent on:

• Leadership, co-ordination and commissioning
• Increasing local resources to help people quit
• Increased referrals and improved pathways
• Increased promotion of local stop smoking support
• Working together to fund services

The funding will be used to commission places on the Allen Carr programme one-day seminars, to recruit six new Public Health Officers into the Stop Smoking service, to enhance the Kick the Habit campaign, and to pilot a financial incentive scheme for non-pregnant smokers. There is an expectation that most of this funding will be used to support people who already smoke to quit, rather than to prevent people from starting to smoke.

BLMK ICB Update Report

The Partnership received an update from the BLMK Integrated Care Board (ICB):

• Work is underway to increase the number of people who use the NHS App, with roadshows taking place to encourage people to download and use the app.
• The Partnership noted the ongoing consultation on the reprovision of Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. This consultation is important to the residents of Milton Keynes as they rely on Mount Vernon Cancer Centre to provide tertiary cancer services because there is currently no equivalent facility in the BLMK area.
• Dr Rima Makarem, Chair of the ICB, will be stepping down at the end of the year. A new Chair of the ICB is expected to be appointed by June 2025.

Bletchley Pathfinder: Early Learning and Insights

The Partnership received an update on the progress made during the first year of the Bletchley Pathfinder, which is a pilot project in Bletchley to test new ways of joined-up working between the Council, the NHS, and other partners to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Bletchley. This is in response to the Fuller Stocktake Report, published by The King's Fund. The Partnership noted that there have been both successes and challenges during the first year.

Successes

• The appointment of a full-time, independent Chair for Team Bletchley has been very helpful in providing leadership for the project and engaging partners.
• The Bletchley Clubs initiative, which provides funding for residents, community groups and organisations to run events that benefit the community, has been very successful, with over 7,000 attendances by over 1,100 individuals.
• Some schools in Bletchley are successfully operating fruit and vegetable stalls to increase access to fresh food for their pupils.

Challenges

• Relationships with the voluntary and community sector in Bletchley have been difficult to develop.
• Attempts to recruit and train volunteer Health Coaches have been unsuccessful.
• Some of the initiatives that are proving successful, like the fruit and vegetable stalls, are likely to need ongoing funding in order to be sustainable.

Our Ambition For Health and Social Care - Annual Review Process

The Partnership approved a proposal from the Joint Leadership Team to start an annual review of the ‘Our ambition for health and social care’ strategy. The strategy sets out an ambition for Milton Keynes to be a place where everyone can live longer, healthier lives. It identifies four key priorities to achieve this ambition:

• Tackling obesity
• Improving system flow
• Children and young people’s mental health
• People with complex needs

The review process, which will begin in January 2025, will be undertaken by four people with relevant expertise and experience, who will be asked to provide an independent assessment of the progress made against each of the four priorities. The outcome of the review will be reported back to the Partnership in due course.

ACTIVATE Trial Update

The Partnership noted a forthcoming decision by Milton Keynes Council to form a partnership with Loughborough University to deliver the MK Activity Rewards Programme. The programme, which began in December 2023, was designed to test the effectiveness of using financial incentives to encourage patients with Type 2 Diabetes to be more physically active. The programme was forced to pause in September 2024 following the collapse of iPrescribe Digital Exercise - the company that supplied the smartphone app that underpinned the scheme.

Three options were considered:

• Stopping the trial
• Finding a new supplier
• Developing a replacement app in-house

It was agreed that the Council should enter into a 'joint venture' with Loughborough University to develop a replacement app. This option will give the Council greater control over the development and intellectual property of the app than would be possible with a third-party supplier. It will also allow the Council to benefit financially should the app be successful and be adopted more widely in the NHS. A final decision on the matter will be taken by Milton Keynes Council on 17 December 2024.

Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Update

The Partnership noted the requirement for a Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment to be undertaken by 1 October 2025. The assessment will determine the pharmaceutical needs of the population of Milton Keynes, and it will include a 60-day consultation period in which members of the public will be able to provide their views. A draft of the assessment will be provided to the Partnership in March 2025, with the final version presented in September 2025.