Issue - meetings

Report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance regarding Foundation Services, specifically reaching lonely individuals, attached.

The Panel considered the report of the Service Director, Legal and Governance regarding Foundation Services, specifically reaching lonely individuals.

Following discussions with invited representatives the Panel concluded that:

·  Invaluable work is being undertaken by volunteers across Southampton to combat loneliness.

·  Southampton’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment acknowledges social isolation and loneliness, but there is a gap around data specifically measuring this issue.

·  Social isolation and loneliness data analysis is planned for 2016/17.  Age UK have mapped relative risk of loneliness across England, including Southampton. Further work is needed to refine this locally, reflecting wider population and risk factors.  There is an opportunity to use the MOSAIC market segmentation tool to identify neighbourhoods which have a higher likelihood of having individuals that are socially isolated. This data would then need to be used intelligently by agencies to target support and prevention activity.

·  Loneliness has a significant impact on health services in Southampton.  Lonely people often present at GP surgeries with a plethora of reasons for attendance.

·  Additional resources are being provided to increase the support for people to access the health, social care and voluntary services they need.  The community navigator pilot has seen some promising results.  There is an opportunity to remove duplication, redesign and roll out a single community navigator scheme for Southampton.

RESOLVED that the comments made by representatives from Communicare’s befriending service, Sarah Weld, Public Health Consultant, Southampton City Council, Dan King, Service Lead, Intelligence and Strategic Analysis, Southampton City Council, Dr Ros Simpson, GP Brook House Surgery, Ian Loynes, Chief Executive, Spectrum CIL, Samia Stubbs, Senior Community Navigator, Spectrum CIL, Dawn Buck, Head of Stakeholder Relations and Engagement, NHS Southampton CCG be noted and used as evidence in the review.