Agenda item

Wellbeing Exeter and Exeter Community Forum/Exeter City Council Community Builders' Work

Minutes:

Jo Yelland updated the Board on the background to Integrated Care Exeter and overview of one of the main programmes - Wellbeing Exeter. This programme had been developed over a two year period and aimed to support the development of more resilient and connected individuals and communities with a focus on early intervention and prevention. Wellbeing Exeter is one of around 100 programmes nationally using social prescribing to empower individuals to improve health by connecting to non-medical and community support services.  

 

Martha Wilkinson of the Devon Community Foundation spoke in detail about Wellbeing Exeter and its three components of:-

 

·         neighbourhood asset based community building;

·         person-centred, non-medical support (social prescribing); and

·         Informed with population data backed up with grassroots knowledge

 

Central to Wellbeing Exeter, were GP’s introducing people to community connectors who were co-ordinated by Exeter CVS, to offer alternatives to traditional services. It was estimated that between 20% to 30% of patients visiting a GP with medical concerns had underlying social problems. Through signposting and one-on-one work, Wellbeing Exeter was helping people improve their mental wellbeing, reduce loneliness, re-engage with their community and manage their own health.

 

Simultaneously, community buildersworking within communities, identifying social resources, helping communities to develop and providing a resource for community connectors. Since the inception of Wellbeing Exeter, there had been over 900 referrals, one of the highest in the country, with an average of 22 a week from nine practices with 70+ GP’s referring electronically with open referral criteria.

 

The New Devon CCG and Devon County Council funding had been extended until March 2018 with City Council funding for community building coming on line from September 2017 from CIL monies. There was an in principle agreement to expand across all Exeter practises with funding for a further two years and with potential to expand into Eastern Devon. ICE had been invited to give a presentation on Wellbeing Exeter at Public Health England national conference in October.

 

Responding to Board members, Jo Yelland and Martha Wilkinson explained further the process of data evaluation through GP practices and the future use of control areas. Positive results and evidence of potential savings would, it was hoped, lead to greater support from social investors. Social prescribing could benefit the wider system including lifelong learning, employment and reduction in benefits etc. Further liaison would take place with community based partners such as Active Devon, with physical activity a good example of social prescribing, potentially stopping visits to GP’s in the first place.

 

Dawn Rivers referred to examples of community projects run by community builders such as Britain in Bloom work including improvements to the St Thomas rail halt, community orchards and the Wonford planters group. Community builders provided the necessary “kick start” when individuals were not sure about how to get involved and access permissions and resources to make a difference in their community.

 

Julian Tagg reported that the Exeter City Football in the Community Trust would be re-branded as the City Community Trust (CCT) to embrace all organisations in the City rather than focusing solely on football. Julian was interested in how CCT could support the work of the Wellbeing Exeter programme.

 

The Chair thanked Jo Yelland and Martha Wilkinson for their updates.

 

RESOLVED that updates on Wellbeing Exeter and the City Community Trust be made to the September board meeting.