Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Executive Director of People

Andy Hardy, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

The Board considered a briefing note of the Executive Director of People which informed about the development of the Coventry and Warwickshire Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP). Andy Hardy, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire attended the meeting and updated the Board with the background to and the progress with the development of the Plan. Juliet Hancox, Coventry and Rugby CCG, Councillor Abbott, Cabinet Member for Adult Services and Councillor Ali, Deputy Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport also attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The briefing note indicated that NHS England had asked every health and Care system to work together to produce a multi-year STP showing how local services would evolve and become more sustainable over the next 5 years. The STP footprint was a non-statutory body that brought together health and social care leaders to support delivery of improved care based on the needs of the local population. The organisations involved in the Coventry and Warwickshire footprint were detailed. 

There was a Programme Board which met monthly and was chaired by Andy Hardy. At this stage the STP submission was an internal working version for NHS England.

The briefing note drew attention to the Coventry and Warwickshire Health and Wellbeing Alliance Concordat. Whilst acknowledging that the demographics and health needs of the two localities differed, it was intended that the principles and broad themes which were informing the Plan were aligned to both Health and Wellbeing Boards. Both Boards had endorsed this concordat which set out the principles for joint working.

A briefing note from NHS England on Sustainability and Transformation in the West Midlands and the Governance Arrangements for Coventry were set out at appendices to the briefing note. 

Andy Hardy, Chair of the Sustainability and Transformation Programme Board, set out the background to the development of the Sustainability and Transformation plan referring to NHS Five Year Forward View from Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England published in October 2014 which highlighted a potential funding gap of £30b. In response to a commitment to provide an additional £8b to support services, savings of £22b would be required from efficiencies and new ways of working. Responses were sought from local health providers as to what services were needed to support their local populations. In December, 2015 NHS England announced that each area was required to develop an STP. These plans aimed to bring together NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups and providers, such as hospital trusts, as well as local authorities and social care to develop footprints to improve the health and wellbeing of the population; the quality of care provided; and the NHS finance and efficiency of services.

Reference was made to natural footprint for Coventry and Warwickshire where over 95% of care was provided within the locality. A Programme Board was established and the following four priorities were identified:

·  Paediatrics and Maternity

·  Mental Health

·  Musculoskeletal services

·  Frail elderly

To drive the work forward, these were split between in and out of hospital programmes.

The Board were informed that the initial deadline for the submission of the plan was June 2016 however this had now changed and the final submission date was September, 2016.

Juliet Hancox reported on decision by NHS England to appoint Andrea Green as Chief Officer for Coventry and Rugby CCG.

The Board questioned the officer and representatives present on a number of issues and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Further details about the appointment of Andrea Green at Coventry and Rugby CCG, the response from local GPs to this decision and whether the Scrutiny Board should have been consulted about this management change

·  What could the Scrutiny Board do to support the CCG with their new leadership structure and their challenge to achieve a balanced budget

·  If there could have been early interventions to avoid the budget issues

·  Additional information about how the four priorities for the STP had been determined

·  The importance and challenges to ensure the local community understood the need to improve their wellbeing which would lead to financial savings for the health and social care system

·  Further details about the financial position at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire and the challenges to ensure future budgets did not incur deficits

·  As new ways of working were introduced ensuring the best use of resources and focussing on outcomes, how to ensure that these targets could be met

·  The impact of Brexit on staffing at the hospital

·  The importance of making the most of advancements in technology and communication systems

·  What could be done to improve the support available to increasing numbers of young people suffering with mental health issues.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The progress on the Sustainability Plan be noted.

(2) Further update reports at key stages in the process be submitted to future meetings of the Board as appropriate including a report on the emerging outcomes framework.