The North West London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (NWL JHOSC) convened to discuss several key healthcare topics affecting the region. The meeting included discussions on dentist commissioning and children's dental health, the future of place-based partnerships, and an update on special school nursing. Also on the agenda was the committee's recommendations tracker and work programme for the upcoming year.

Dentist Commissioning and Children's Dental Health

The committee was scheduled to discuss a report on dentist commissioning and children's dental health across North West London. The report was intended to address concerns about the accessibility, equity, and effectiveness of dental services for children and young people.

The report highlighted that North West London is one of the highest performing Integrated Care Boards (ICB) nationally, and that performance has been enhanced by the commissioning of additional activity in the past two years, and has been supplemented by the New Patient Premium (NPP). The commissioning of additional capacity from general dental practices was scheduled to be implemented again during 2025/26, targeting the areas of highest need using the most recent Public Health data on oral health inequalities. The report noted that this takes on added importance given that the NPP has been discontinued, which does remove some of the incentive associated with seeing new patients.

The report also included data on dental contract delivery at both a London and ICB Level.

The report also included a breakdown of acute dental contract values for 2025/26. It noted that London's geography and integrated transport system means that patients access care across ICB boundaries. The report also noted that the delivery of Oral Health Promotion (OHP) activities in north west London ICB are delivered by the two Community Dental Service (CDS) providers, Whittington Health NHS Trust and Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust.

The report recommended providers in the following wards to have additional NHS dental activity:

• Brent: Stonebridge, Harlesden
• Westminster: Church Street
• Hillingdon: Barnhill
• Westminster: Westbourne/Harrow Road
• Hounslow: Heston West/ Cranford, Feltham West/Bedfont
• Ealing: Acton Central (no practice in East Acton)
• Hammersmith and Fulham: Wormholt and White City/ Shepherd's Bush Green
• Kensington and Chelsea: Colville
• Harrow: Roxeth

The report also included a dental epidemiology profile for five-year-olds.

Future of Place Based Partnerships

The committee was scheduled to discuss a report providing a comprehensive overview of Place Based Partnerships (PBPs) across the North West London region. The report set out a maturity model for PBPs in NWL and outlined a shared framework to support local authority, health and voluntary sector partners in each Place to assess the PBP's current state, identifying development needs, and planning its journey towards greater maturity. The aim is to enable consistency where it matters while respecting the diversity of local contexts and the strengths of individual partnerships. A process was outlined to confirm roles and responsibilities within each partnership.

The report noted that North West London's PBPs have made substantial progress in improving outcomes for residents by integrating services around local needs, reducing inequalities, and making the system more sustainable.

The report set out a vision that by April 2026, every borough in NWL should be operating as a mature PBP with:

• Shared strategic priorities rooted in population need
• Integrated neighbourhood teams at the heart of delivery
• Clear accountability and inclusive governance arrangements (across health and local authority)
• Coordinated infrastructure and resources to deliver effectively

The maturity model defines what 'good' looks like across six key domains:

• Leadership & Governance
• Vision & Strategy
• Service Delivery & Integrated Care Models
• Population Health Management
• Patient and Community Engagement
• Workforce Development

The report also detailed what is needed from each partner to deliver on the ambition of mature PBPs.

Special School Nursing and Update on SEN Provisions

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on the current position of Special School Nursing provisions across North West London. A supplemental agenda was issued including an updated report on this topic.

The report noted that a Core Offer for community services is a key contributor to improving outcomes and reducing variation for the NWL ICS. Community Providers, through the collaborative have committed to developing a consistent core offer for any place to reduce unwarranted variation and drive service consistency across North West London. Within this, providers will shape the future role of Place, considering how services are part of and enable Integrated Neighbourhood Teams. Providers will work together to drive efficient, high-quality care through improved productivity, including making the best use of digital and physical assets and infrastructure.

The report also included a summary of changes and boroughs affected by the service specification, milestones, timelines and progress and mitigation.

Recommendations Tracker and Work Programme

The committee was also scheduled to review its recommendations tracker, which monitors the progress of past recommendations made to NHS bodies. In addition, the committee was set to discuss and confirm its work programme for the 2025/26 municipal year, outlining the key health policy areas it plans to review.