Hartlepool's next steps for dealing with outbreak to come under the microscope at key meeting

Hartlepool Health and Wellbeing Board will meet remotely on Friday at 12.30pm, the first meeting of the group since the beginning of March.

At that time the coronavirus outbreak was in its early stage, with lockdown not yet in place, and a short verbal update was given on the virus.

Made up of councillors and chief officers from Hartlepool Borough Council, representatives from local NHS bodies, local police officers and more, the board will discuss the next stages of the response to the Covid-19 outbreak for the area.

On the agenda to be discussed is a coronavirus update from council officers responsible for child, adult and public health services, followed by a look at what will be the Hartlepool outbreak control plan.

The meeting will also include a review of the terms of reference and membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board in response to the pandemic.

The board is usually scheduled to meet quarterly, but council chief executive Gill Alexander stressed at the recent extraordinary meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council the board would have increasing importance due to Covid-19.

She said: “The Health and Wellbeing Board will have a critical role in keeping partners and the community engaged and on board with our approach in Hartlepool.

“This will require re-setting the purpose and membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board to ensure it can fulfil this role.”

The meeting will be held over Microsoft Teams, and streamed live via YouTube, meaning representatives will be debating and discussing the issues virtually, instead of having to be sat in the Civic Centre.

It comes after national legislation was brought in to allow councils to meet and members to vote on items of business remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Hartlepool Borough Council has made a public link available to watch the meeting at https://youtu.be/EKV3xEByqy0 from 12.30pm on Friday, and it can also be found by searching ‘Hartlepool Council Meetings’ on YouTube.

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