Decision details

Further to the report, Bruce Morris (Divisional Director, Adult Social Care) and Sharon Morrow (Chief Operating Officer, B&D CCG) gave a presentation to the Board, following which the points or issues below were raised:

·  The Better Care Fund (BCF) plan for Barking and Dagenham will be aligned to the BCF plans for Redbridge and Havering also. The three BCF plans will dovetail the CCG’s broader strategic plans which itself will have regard to the plans and strategies of each of the local authorities.

·  25% of BCF funds are performance related. There is a lack of guidance on the performance related elements of the BCF so it is difficult to know what would happen if the borough failed to meet is performance targets. It is doubtful that BCF funding would be withheld, further action plans to bring up performance is a more likely intervention.

·  The situation at BHRUT is a significant risk to meeting the performance targets attached to the BCF. Hospital admissions and delayed discharges of care will need to be reduced to mitigate risk. The BCF plan is reliant on BHRUT’s improvement plan being successful and has been designed to support the recovery of BHRUT.

·  The Board wished for commissioning organisations to consult early with partners on de-commissioning intentions and set out alternative plans for service provision at the earliest opportunity. Members of the Board from provider NHS trusts felt that the stability of a 24 month planning cycle would help their medium and long term planning.

·  Consideration needs to be given about how Disabled Facilities Grants and money from the Troubled Families agenda is included within the BCF. It will be necessary to give more thought about how children’s health and wellbeing outcomes are incorporated as more funding streams are rolled into the BCF. 

·  A recent event hosted by Healthwatch gathered feedback from residents about the content of the BCF plan. Generally residents were supportive of the vision. There was consensus among the Board that further engagement is needed in the future.

·  Board Members noted the scale of savings required of the CCG and the Council over the next five years and recognised the challenge of further integration and pooling of monies for partnership working in this context.

Cllr Worby (Chair of the Board) felt that the draft plan was a good submission putting the borough in a strong position to submit a high quality final plan. Cllr Worby felt that a lack of guidance from the Department of Health was problematic for developing BCF plans. 

The Board agreed the Better Care Fund Draft Plan (Appendix 1), allowing Barking and Dagenham to meet the national deadline for submission on 14 February 2014.