To receive a presentation on the revised NHS and Integrated Care System and Partnership arrangements
Minutes:
The Committee received a presentation on the new health landscape and changes to health arrangements. The NHS has a new long term plan and a new approach for health services focussed on:
· Giving people more control over their own health and the care they receive
· Encouraging more collaboration between GPs and community services, as ‘primary care networks’, to increase the services they could provide jointly
· Increasing the focus on NHS organisations working with their local partners, as ‘Integrated Care Systems’ (ICS), to plan and deliver services which meet the needs of their communities.
The NHS wanted to increase its contribution to tackling some of the most significant causes of ill health, including new action to help people stop smoking, overcome drinking problems and avoid Type 2 diabetes, with a particular focus on the communities and groups of people most affected by these problems. The NHS workforce would be increased, training and recruiting more professionals – more clinical placements for undergraduate nurses, more medical school places and more routes into the NHS such as apprenticeships. There was an aim to make the NHS a better place to work, so more staff stayed in the NHS and felt able to make better use of their skills and experience for patients.
The NHS wanted to provide more convenient access to services and health information for patients, with the new NHS App as a digital ‘front door’; better access to digital tools and patient records for staff; and improvements to the planning and delivery of services based on the analysis of patient and population data. Additionally, the NHS wanted to continue working with doctors and other health professionals to identify ways to reduce duplication in how clinical services are delivered, make better use of the NHS’ combined buying power to get commonly-used products more cheaply, and reduce spend on administration.
The Committee was advised that nationally there would be a shift toward devolution of powers, responsibilities, and funding away from central organisations (e.g. NHS England) to local areas. Outside of Greater Manchester, Surrey Heartlands was the second Devolved Care System – this meant that there was significant pressure to deliver and the area was under the national spotlight. There were 10 ICS areas. As part of the Surrey Heartlands ICS structure, three Integrated Care Partnerships (ICP) had been created. The ICPs included commissioners and providers for each area coming together to deliver health and care services in partnership. These partnerships would be responsible for the delivery of care to their populations. It would be the responsibility of the ICPs to deliver best practice care for their populations and to set local outcomes that achieved the core outcomes of the ICS while also reflecting the local priorities of their population.
The aim was that the ICS and ICPs would be operating under shadow arrangements from April 2019. The ICS would develop and implement their own strategies for the next five years. By April 2019 local plans would be published for 2019/20 and by Autumn 2019 local five year plans would be published.
The Committee welcomed the proposals and felt that it was good progress. The main concern was resources and whether or not this new approach could be achieved.