Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Health presented a report on a proposed agreement, in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding, between the Council and NHS Outer North East London (NHS ONEL) to formalise arrangements between the parties for matters such as accountability structures, terms and standards for joint working and identifying joint priorities.

The Cabinet Member explained that NHS ONEL was formed in February 2011 as a result of the amalgamation of NHS Barking and Dagenham, NHS Havering, NHS Redbridge and NHS Waltham Forest into a new ‘cluster management team’.  This ‘clustering’ arrangement left the borough-based Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in place as legal entities, but brought their management together into a single structure and created a joint Board to be accountable for all four PCTs’ work.  This was a means of achieving the tough management savings targets imposed on PCTs by the Department of Health and was a step towards the eventual abolition of PCTs in 2013, as proposed in the Health and Social Care Bill currently before Parliament.

The Cabinet Member referred to the key features of the Memorandum of Understanding, namely:

·  To ensure that strategic plans are developed jointly, in line with the impending duty on the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board to promote integrated working;

·  The expected attendance by NHS ONEL at the Borough’s partnership groups and working groups;

·  To establish expectations around safeguarding, including representation at relevant forums (not least the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the Safeguarding Adults Board) and adherence to protocols and guidance in planning and delivering services; and

·  To establish arrangements for disputes and monitoring.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  The current draft of the Memorandum of Understanding, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, as the basis for concluding the negotiations with NHS ONEL; and

  (ii)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services to proceed to conclude negotiations with NHS ONEL on any remaining outstanding items and to sign the Memorandum of Understanding on the Council’s behalf.