Agenda item

Health and Social Care Transformation Update - Sustainability and Transformation Plan/Better Care Fund

Minutes:

The Board received and noted presentations by Jackie Pederson and Jon Tomlinson which provided updates on progress with the implementation of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) and the Better Care Fund (BCF).

 

In addressing the points raised under public questions, Jackie Pederson explained that the Doncaster Place Plan had been received by the Board at its previous meeting, and this outlined a commitment by providers to work together in new ways to provide services for health and social care through joint commissioning and with greater integration in future.  She confirmed that the Place Plan would link with the STP and that testing on this new model would commence across Doncaster soon.

 

In outlining the scale of the financial challenge and where the required savings were to be made, Jackie explained that if the STP proposals were successfully implemented, then it was hoped that these measures would go a long way towards making up the deficit, but she stressed that this would be a huge challenge.

 

With regard to public engagement in the process, Jackie confirmed that a listening exercise was due to commence in February.  She explained that Healthwatch Doncaster, along with other voluntary sector organisations, would be heavily involved in the public consultation exercise on the STP and therefore suggested asking Steve Shore to report back to a future meeting of this Board on the outcome of the consultation.

 

During subsequent discussion, the Chair explained that Doncaster Council’s Cabinet had discussed the Place Plan at length at its meeting in December 2016, but had only noted the overall direction of travel within the Plan at this stage, pending the outcome of the consultation to be held with staff, patients and the public during December and January.  Following the completion of the consultation exercise, a further report would be submitted to Cabinet for further discussion.

Councillor Glyn Jones referred to a recent article which had quoted the view expressed by the Chair of the BMA that STPs, proffered as the solution to the NHS deficit, had “revealed a health service that is in fact unsustainable without urgent further investment, and with little capacity to ‘transform’ in any meaningful way other than by closing services on a drastic scale”.  Councillor Jones suggested that it would be helpful if a Due Regard Statement was produced to measure the impacts of the STP proposals.  He also expressed the view that the STP was high level in terms of its content and there was little detail in the Plan to allow people to come to an informed decision about the proposals and he looked forward to seeing the results of the consultation exercise.

In response, Jackie Pederson agreed to take back to colleagues the suggestion in relation to producing a Due Regard Statement.  In terms of the content of the STP, Jackie stated that it was hoped that further clarity and details on the proposals would be available soon.

 

Following the presentations, the Board discussed a wide range of issues that had been highlighted, including:-

 

  • The need to consider how the STP, BCF and Place Plan would all be co-ordinated on a local level;
  • Recognition that measures had to be taken to try and reduce the current levels of demand on hospitals, such as a focus on ‘end of life’ not meaning hospital care and, following accidents, assessing patients at home, rather than using hospitals;
  • It was noted that the BCF Plan in terms of its direction of travel had been well received regionally, and it was intended that the BCF would be used to support the transformation programme and implementation of the Place Plan.

 

RESOLVED to receive and note the presentations on the implementation of the STP and the BCF.

 

Supporting documents: