Agenda item

Simon Trickett explained that the agenda report gave the overall position in Worcestershire with the Long-Term Plan. There had been an evolutionary process over the last 3-4 years since the creation of the Sustainability and Transformation Partnership and a further update document would be produced later in the year.

He drew the Board’s attention to the work that was on-going with the setting up of the Integrated Care system (ICS). One of the main areas of focus in future would be the development of an outcomes framework which would be developed jointly with partners. Work was happening to establish the operational aspects of the Long-Term Plan, such as Primary Care networks where GP practices would work with the Health and Care Trust, social care providers, public health and in some circumstances housing staff.

The CCGs were working on their annual planning process at the current time and would return to Long Term Plan in April. A further update would be brought to the next meeting in May. The Year one operating plan was being produced and would give the priorities for the first year. The plan had looked particularly at Children and Young People, and prevention.

Consultation and engagement with communities had been a key priority throughout the STP and Long-Term Plan journey. Contributions had been received from Healthwatch as well as other partners and public events had taken place where Members of the public could ask questions. The communication process had worked with communities and the community sector partners to enable them to help shape what services would look like. All public consultation was set within the scene of the wider strategic direction of the plan.

It was believed that the Health and Well-being Board should use the long-term plan as an opportunity and see how its priorities fit within the aims of the Long Term plan and work with ICS towards achieving them. The Director of Public Health said this was an ideal time to be involved with the ICS as a new Health and Well-being Strategy would be implemented in 2021.

Various queries from Board Members were addressed:

·       it was acknowledged that workforce was the biggest challenge for the NHS – ensuring there were enough staff who were trained and qualified in the necessary areas. During the recent election campaign there were promises of extra 50,000 nurses and 6,000 doctors. It was hoped that people training in Worcester could be persuaded to remain in the County to work. There was a local Workforce Board which was well attended by local health and social care partners as well as the University.

·       Legal, Financial and HR implications associated with the Long Term Plan were not detailed in the report as the paper just gave a high level strategic view.

·       Community resilience and personal self-management was a large part of the Long Term Plan but public bodies had a responsibility to support people with their ability to self-manage their health, while at the same time accepting that this was not an option for some people and so there still needed to be a service offer for those people who were unable to self-manage.

·       The Mental Health investment standard meant that investment in mental health would be at the same proportion as the general health budget, plus an extra 1.7%. This meant around £4.5 million extra would be put into mental health services.

·       A Board Member pointed out that the document was so high level it would be difficult for anyone to disagree with it and that the Board would be more interested in the next stage when more details were available. It was agreed that generally the Public did currently agree with the direction of the Long Term Plan but there had been a great deal of discussion about what was intended over the previous couple of years and work had been needed to ensure that people knew the STP and Long Term Plan were not about privatisation.

·       As the Health and Well-being Board was the only statutory body it was suggested that it should have a greater role in the ICS. It was unclear whether there would be any legislative changes to help achieve the aims of the Long Term Plan. In the area of procurement, where the legislation had previously been seen as restrictive, ways had been found to work with the legislation; for example Worcestershire Health and Care Trust would be providing Mental Health services in Herefordshire in future, as well as Worcestershire, without the need of having to go out to tender. The Local Authority should see that they had an opportunity to get involved with the ICS without needing a change in the legislation.

·       Healthwatch explained that they had been involved in the engagement strategy and more than 30 focus groups. It was delivered in the context of the strategic direction that had been given to the NHS. The NHS had listened to people’s concerns and as an example had taken on Board that people would not be happy to travel large distances for specialist services.

RESOLVED that the Health and Well-being Board noted the development of a Herefordshire and Worcestershire long term plan and were committed to its implementation.