Conor Burke (Accountable Officer, B&D CCG) introduced the report to the Board. The Board raised the following comments or issues in response to the report.
· Access to the Integration Transformation Fund in 2015/16 will be dependent on agreement of a local 2-year plan for 2014/15 and 2015/16. This plan will need to be agreed by the Health and Wellbeing Board before March 2014.
· Integration must improve patient outcomes. Pooling resources and working jointly is the mechanism for integration but the borough must not lose focus on making a difference to the patient experience. Bureaucracy and getting lost in planning should not get in the way of service re-design and system change.
· Although health and social care services for 18 to 25 year olds are not an explicit priority listed in the report there is a priority to integrate service delivery for families with complex needs which would include this age group.
· The CCG is on a journey towards personal health budgets. This will take time to become embedded.
· Year-on-year budget cuts and the redeployment of funds is a big challenge. Bringing together commissioners will undoubtedly bring improvements to integration but because the ITF is made up of existing funding streams (not new ones) there will be difficult choices ahead and perhaps sacrifices in some areas. It is important that when budgets are pooled the result is better efficiency rather than a loss of overall funds.
· 25% of the ITF is tied to performance against outcomes set out in the local joint plan.
The H&WBB agreed to:
· ask relevant officers within the CCG and local authority to draft and prepare the plans for discussion at a future Board and submission to the Department of Health.
· Task the Integrated Care Sub-Group to lead on both the development of the plan and any subsequent monitoring and reporting to the Board, together with any implications.
· Note the opportunities alongside the implications for disinvestment
· Note that a further report will come to the Board with the draft two year plan in February 2014.
· Consider the draft shared priorities in (2.2) that will form the basis for concrete proposals to be considered at a future meeting.