The Health Select Committee was scheduled to discuss adult social care complaints, community care contracts, sexual health services, safeguarding and the Healthwatch Wiltshire annual report. The meeting was to be held at County Hall, Trowbridge.

Wiltshire Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership Annual Report

The Health Select Committee was scheduled to review the Wiltshire Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership (SVPP) Annual Report 2024-25. The SVPP brings together the work of the Safeguarding Adults Board, the Community Safety Partnership, and partnership activity relating to safeguarding children.

The annual report, which was published in September 2025, was expected to provide an update on progress against five partnership priorities:

• Domestic abuse
• Exploitation
• Safeguarding unborn babies and under 1s
• Transitional safeguarding
• Social, emotional and mental health

The report also includes information about case review activity. The report pack noted that the committee would likely be most concerned around the Safeguarding Adult Review (SAR) activity, which in line with the national trend has seen a significant increase in referrals for and commissioning of reviews since 2023. Learning emerging from reviews relating to children and Domestic Abuse Related Death Reviews (DARDRs) was also to be noted.

The Health Select Committee was to be aware of how the council works with partners to safeguard vulnerable adults, children and communities, and be assured that the council and partners are discharging statutory duties with regards to case review activity. The report pack stated that the committee would consider if it required further detail on any area the work of the SVPP in future outside of the annual report.

The foreword to the report by David Williams, Independent Scrutineer, noted the engagement of all the safeguarding partners and highlighted some of the activities that have taken place to help support improved practice and in response to supportive challenge from partners.

As you can see from the increased demand in the practice review pages there is a sharp increase in referrals, especially across the adult space, which follows a national trend and can partly be explained by the increased awareness by both agencies and third sector in how to recognise how to make referrals and understand where learning may be found. He also noted that one area that continues to remain a focus for the partnership is how to better represent the voice of experience both at group and practice level.

Future Commissioning of Specialist Sexual Health Service in Wiltshire

The Health Select Committee was scheduled to discuss the engagement activity underway to understand the sexual health needs of the Wiltshire population, and how these insights are being captured and used to inform the future commissioning of sexual health services.

The report pack stated that under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, Wiltshire Council has a requirement to provide open access sexual and reproductive health services in Wiltshire for everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or sexuality, whether a Wiltshire resident or not.

The report noted that sexual health is not just about preventing disease, it's about physical, emotional, and social wellbeing, and that investing in sexual health services such as contraception, STI testing and education reduces long-term healthcare costs and improves population health outcomes.

The report also noted that there is considerable inequality in the distribution of STIs[^2], blood borne viruses (BBVs) and unplanned pregnancies across the population, and that within Wiltshire young people aged 15-24 and those living in the most deprived areas see significantly higher levels of disease burden then other populations.

The report pack stated that population feedback plays a vital role in the recommissioning process, enabling Public Health to assess whether current service provision is meeting the needs of the diverse population and helps identify areas for improvement.

The report pack stated that a Health Needs Assessment (HNA) is being conducted to capture the population health need to be met by future sexual health services. The HNA involves:

• A Wiltshire resident online survey conducted by Healthwatch, with 382 respondents.
• A Wiltshire practitioners online survey conducted by Healthwatch, with 45 respondents.
• Two focus groups designed to capture feedback from groups where a low response to surveys was anticipated, but who can face inequalities in sexual health.
• Feedback about the sexual health system in Wiltshire obtained from workforce training and development, delivered by Wiltshire Council Public Health to 115 participants across 6 organisations.
• A Chlamydia Care Pathway Workshop co-facilitated by Wiltshire Public Health alongside UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
• Financial evidence through information received as part of the South West Cross charging arrangements.
• Service data from the sexual health service.
• Data on STIs in Wiltshire.

The key themes that emerged from the range of engagement activities to date can be summarised into four areas:

• Access to services
• Availability of services across Wiltshire
• Service visibility and marketing
• Training for workforce and practitioners

The report pack stated that once complete, the Sexual Health Needs Assessment will be published on the Wiltshire Intelligence website.

Healthwatch Wiltshire Annual Report 2024-25

The Health Select Committee was scheduled to review the Healthwatch Wiltshire Annual Report 2024-25. Healthwatch Wiltshire is the local health and social care champion, ensuring that NHS leaders and decision-makers hear the public's voice and use their feedback to improve care.

The report pack stated that in 2024–2025 Healthwatch Wiltshire supported more than 37,496 people to have their say and get information about their care, and that the organisation currently employs 5 staff and their work is supported by 15 volunteers.

The report pack stated that Healthwatch Wiltshire had:

• Gathered the experiences of 128 people of health and social care services.
• Provided 37,359 people with advice and information.
• Published 3 reports about the improvements people would like to see in areas like eating disorder treatment and childhood vaccinations, with the most popular report being 'The health needs and experiences of military families in Wiltshire'.

The report pack also included a message from Kevin Peltonen-Messenger, Chief Executive Officer of The Care Forum, who stated that Healthwatch Wiltshire had enhanced their digital presence, aligned their website with national standards to improve access to information, advice, and guidance, and that their outreach has included military families, the Nepalese community, and people with diabetes, while also contributing to regional projects on eating disorders and digital healthcare.

Integrated Community Based Care Contract Update

The Health Select Committee was scheduled to receive an update on the Integrated Community Based Care (ICBC) contract with HCRG Care Group Ltd for the provision of services across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, commissioned from 1 April 2025.

The report pack stated that the update would include updates on Care Navigators, how co-production has shaped the neuro-diversity pathway, and the Quality Dashboard.

The report pack stated that the role of care navigators will grow in community services as part of the transformation in the next 7 years, and that they will sit within the BSW care coordination centre and will be the 'front facing' individual who will be able to support service users to navigate and access health and wellbeing services both internally and externally when they ring for advice and support.

The report pack also stated that BSW ICB has commissioned an all-age Neurodevelopmental Pathway to provide a needs-based approach to support children, young people and adults with autistic and/or ADHD traits, and that this new pathway forms part of the Integrated Community Based Care (ICBC) procurement with the implementation of the new pathway at the end of March 2025.

The report pack stated that HCRG continues to work to align all experience, safety and effectiveness metrics across BSW and to produce their quality dashboard which is expected in November 2025, and that all providers across BSW align their quality dashboards to the wider BSW Quality Assurance and Improvement Framework (QAIF) metrics.

Adult Social Care Complaints 2024-25

The Health Select Committee was scheduled to provide feedback on the Adult Social Care Complaints report for 2024-25.

The report pack stated that the report presents an overview of 12 months of Adult Social Care complaints and appeals, alongside wider customer feedback and the findings from audit activity, and the improvement work being undertaken in response.

The report pack included a table taken from the Wiltshire Council Annual Complaints Performance and Service Improvement Report 2024/2025, which stated that Adult Social Care received 111 complaints (18% of council total), which was a 10% increase since 2023-24, and that 28% were upheld or partially upheld by the council.

The report pack stated that Adult Social Care is typically working with just under 10,000 people at any one time, and complaints therefore represent a small proportion of this work, but that they prioritise a response and a resolution to them as it is one of their statutory duties and they can learn and improve as a result.

The report pack stated that in order to analyse complaints and identify themes, content is mapped against the 10 adult care practice standards that inform practice:

• Working with Individuals
• Assessment
• Care and Support Planning
• Personalised Care, Support and Equipment Planning
• Decision Making
• Financial Assessment and Management
• Safeguarding
• Working with Carers
• Transitions
• Ending Involvement

The report pack stated that 55% of complaints received were linked to Standard 1: Working with Individuals, and that poor communication between ASC and customers and/or their families was a common theme of complaints linked to this standard.

The report pack also stated that between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, 46 appeals were received, and that there is a strong correlation between the appeals and complaints, with Standard 1: Working with Individuals who use Services and Standard 5: Decision Making, being most commonly linked to the Appeals received.

The report pack stated that Adult Social Care completed 556 audits in 2024-25, including thematic, case file, and service-specific audits, and that feedback from customers is central to the audit process and their input is actively sought by the auditors, with most reporting positive experiences and satisfaction with ASC services.

The report pack also stated that Contact and Connect (CC2i) is an automated telephony system designed to assess the quality and responsiveness of Adult Social Care services, and that during the period 1 October 2024 - 30 September 2025, 1592 customers have been contacted with a response rate of 63%, with overall customer satisfaction being 84%.

Other Business

The committee was also scheduled to discuss:

• Apologies, Substitutions and Changes to Membership
• The minutes of the previous meeting
• Declarations of interest
• Chairman's announcements, including that the revised Wiltshire Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) will be published by the end of November 2025 and will be presented at the next committee meeting on 14 January 2026.
• Public participation
• Cabinet Member Updates
• Task Group Updates - A rapid scrutiny exercise into Urgent Care Reporting is scheduled for 4 November 2025.
• Forward Work Programme
• Urgent items
• Date of next meeting