Agenda item

Report ACH24-007

The Place Executive Lead provided an overview of key work, improvements and developments undertaken by SEL ICB and partners within the One Bromley collaborative.

The Place Executive Lead informed Members that work had been ongoing to manage winter pressures and deliver the immunisation programmes. Since the report was written, there had been information in the media regarding the measles campaign. An increase in the number of cases was being seen in London – none had been reported in Bromley, but measles was a highly transmissible disease, and an additional local MMR campaign would be drawn up. In response to a question, the Place Executive Lead said that Bromley had the highest MMR uptake across London – uptake for dose one was over 90%, and just slightly less for dose two. Since 2017 there had been a gradual decline in uptake across London, but they were now seeing an uptick. With regards to the cases of measles in North West London, 75% related to unvaccinated children and the others related to children that had only received one dose of the vaccine. The Member requested that information regarding MMR coverage in Bromley be provided in future reports.

In response to a question, the Place Executive Lead noted that whooping cough had been circulating, and they were looking to improve the uptake of immunisations in the first year. There had also been a number of Group A Streptococcus infections, but nothing like the levels seen last year.

Members were advised that work on the Bromley Health and Wellbeing Centre was progressing – the design had been completed and gone through the required planning process. This would be an element of the new Civic Suite in Churchill Court and was expected to open at the end of the calendar year. The Place Executive Lead noted that the new continuing care service had recently been launched to better meet the needs of Bromley’s population.

In response to questions from the Chairman, the Place Executive Lead said that the flu campaign would run until the end of February – last year’s uptake had exceeded 80%, but this year it was anticipated that uptake from the 65+ cohort would be around 77%. It was considered that there was an element of vaccine fatigue and there were particular populations that did not take up the offer. It was noted that lots of work had been undertaken with the Public Health department in relation to this. The inequalities group was helping to build confidence and relationships and they would continue to work on approaches to improve uptake. The Place Executive Lead noted that, for the 65+ cohort, Bromley had the highest level of uptake for the flu vaccine across London – Bromley was also in the top three for uptake in the under 65’s at risk, and 2-3 year old cohorts.

A Member noted that uptake of the COVID-19 booster appeared to be low in the immunosuppressed cohort. The Place Executive Lead said that this was an area which needed further work. All services, including hospitals and practices, had worked to identify and encourage people to have the vaccine, but it was considered that a deep dive needed to be undertaken in relation to this.

In response to questions regarding the vaccine uptake amongst staff, the Place Executive Lead said that figures were recorded by organisation. It was noted that uptake was not as good as they would like, however staff could also get their flu and COVID-19 vaccinations through GPs/pharmacies, so the uptake may be better than the figures indicated. It was highlighted that previously there had been a big campaign in relation to vaccination being a condition of employment – this had created a backlash and a lot of work would need to be undertaken to encourage people to get the vaccination. With regards to LBB staff, the Director of Adult Social Care said there had been a campaign encouraging all eligible staff to get their vaccines, and these had been provided in-house. The Director of Public Health advised that there had been meetings and communication with staff in terms of the COVID-19 and flu vaccination offer, including funding flu vaccinations for LBB staff who did not fall within the eligibility criteria. It was noted that they had not yet reached the end of the season, and it was agreed that complete figures on vaccination uptake could be provided once it ended.

In response to a question regarding the digital telephony role out, the Associate Director advised that all practices would have this in place within the next 3-6 months. The new digital telephony system would provide a call queueing system and call back feature, which it was hoped would allow practices to work better and provide a smoother experience for patients. The Place Executive Lead noted that the new system would help collate data in terms counting calls and the length of waits, which would help improve back office systems.

The Chairman thanked the Place Executive Lead for the update to the Sub-Committee.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.