To receive reports on business which, in the opinion of the Chair, should be brought forward for urgent consideration.

There were four items of Chair’s Urgent Business:

1.    The Chair welcomed the recent news that the Peninsula Dental School Social Enterprise (PDSE) had recently taken over the contract for a Council building, in which it would establish the Plymouth Dental School. It was hoped that the ambitious project would be live from September 2025;

2.    Given the significant changes to community pharmacy in Plymouth, the Health and Wellbeing Board had accepted the proposal to ‘go early’ with the publication of the next Plymouth Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) at the January 2024 meeting, aiming for publication in April 2025 as opposed to the October 2025 deadline. However, as a result of the July General Election, the publication of the NHS Devon Community Pharmacy Strategy had been delayed until November 2024. This strategy outlined the direction of travel for community pharmacy in Devon and therefore provided essential context for the PNA. As a result, production of the Plymouth PNA had been delayed, and it was hoped publication would take place in July 2025;

3.    Consultation was ongoing as part of the NHS 10 Year Plan. A series of engagement sessions were scheduled at the Methodist Central Hall in Plymouth, and Board partners were encouraged to promote public awareness to maximise engagement from residents in Plymouth;

4.    The Chair welcomed Professor Steve Maddern to the Board, who had recently taken over as the Director of Public Health.