Agenda item

Report of the Director of Quality and Integration, for the Health and Wellbeing Board to note the progress made towards implementation of Better Care Southampton, attached.

The Board considered the report of the Director of Quality and Integration, Southampton City Commissioning, Southampton City Council, providing details of the progress made towards the implementation of Better Care Southampton.

The following was highlighted:-

·  that there had been a shift in emphasis for the pay of the performance element of the fund, with an increased focus on reduction of unplanned admissions and a revised plan template now required to be completed by 19 September 2014, with additional financial data around metrics, planned spend and projected savings; and

·  that in revising the plan template, officers would seek to ensure that there would be minimal changes and focus of work to the original plan already submitted.

The following amended recommendations were proposed, seconded and agreed by the Board.

RESOLVED

1. that the Health and Wellbeing Board noted recent developments in national policy concerning the Better Care Fund, as set out in the joint letter to Health and Wellbeing Board Chairs from Jon Rouse and Helen Edwards, dated 11 July, together with the revised timetable for submissions set out on 23 Julyand the suite of planning and technical guidance issued under cover of a letter from Andrew Ridley by NHS England on 25 July 2014;

2. that the Health and Wellbeing Board considered the following two principles to be inalienable:-

·  the currently approved Better Care Southampton plans had been developed in close partnership with and in a spirit of co-production between NHS Southampton City CCG, Southampton City Council, local health and social care providers including acute, community and primary care, the voluntary sector and groups representing patients, service users and the public. The Board fully recognised that the plans entailed risks and that the participating organisations had a mutual interdependence and were fully committed to successful implementation, including maximising the scope and thus impact of the pooled health and social care budget. The Board valued and respected the involvement of all local partners in this process and considered that they had resulted in plans that were locally owned, risk assessed and robust;

•  whilst it was noted that emergency hospital admissions had grown by 5.7% nationally in 2013/14, the equivalent growth locally was only 2.7% (and within this, GP referral growth was negligible).  Since the first local ECIST reports in 2012 it had been acknowledged that admission avoidance schemes had been relatively successful and that the emphasis in future needs would be on reducing length of stay and improving discharge management and onward care. Therefore, local Better Care plans had sought to achieve a locally appropriate balance between reducing avoidable emergency admissions and the remaining better care outcomes that had been prioritised.  That was: reducing delayed transfers of care, better reablement, reduced permanent admissions to nursing and residential care and better falls management.  The Board considered that a local approach to performance improvement must retain this balanced approach; and

iii  that provided the principles set out above were satisfied and in view of the fact that no further Board Meetings were scheduled before the due date, the Board was content that following consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair, authority be delegated to the People Director to approve the submissions required by 19 September 2014.  Should principles identified in Minute ii above be compromised by anything that was proposed, an extraordinary meeting might be required to consider next steps.