Agenda item

Report by Rachael Danter, System Transformation Director, Better Health Better Care Better Value, who has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

The Scrutiny Board considered a report of Rachael Danter, System Transformation Director, Better Health Better Care Better Value concerning the NHS Long Plan. Health and care leaders had come together to develop the Long Term Plan to make the NHS fit for the future and to get the most value for patients out of the available funding. Rachael Danter, Andrea Green and Dr Sarah Raistrick, Coventry and Rugby CCG attended the meeting for the consideration of this item.

The report indicated that the plan had been drawn up by frontline health and care staff, patient groups and other experts. They had benefitted from hearing a wide range of views from 200 events and receiving 2,500 submissions from individuals and groups representing the opinions and interests of 3.5m people.

The Board were informed of the key things that local NHS organisations would be working on with their partners to turn the ambitions in the plan into improvements in services in Coventry and Warwickshire which included:

·  Making sure everyone gets the best start in life

·  Delivering world class care for major health problems

·  Supporting people to age well.

To ensure that the NHS could achieve the ambitious improvements for their patients, the Long Term Plan also set out how some of the challenges facing the NHS, such as staff shortages and growing demand for services, could be overcome. These included:

·  Doing things differently

·  Preventing illness and tackling health inequalities

·  Backing the workforce

·  Making better use of data and digital technology

·  Getting the most out of taxpayers’ investment in the NHS.

The report informed that Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships and Integrated Care Systems were now being asked to develop and implement their own strategies for the next five years. The strategy for Coventry and Warwickshire needed to set out how it was intended to take the ambitions from the Long Term Plan and working in partnership to turn them into local action to improve service and the health and wellbeing of the local communities, building on the work already undertaken. It was the intention to consult with employees, patients and local residents providing them with the opportunity to help shape what the NHS Long Term Plan means for the area and how services needed to change and improve.

The Board noted that between March and April Healthwatch Coventry and Healthwatch Warwickshire had undertaken a programme of engagement activity via online surveys, face to face meetings and focus groups, which sought the views of 795 local people about the provision of the services/ care currently provided. The output from this work along with other engagement activity undertaken by local authorities and the CCGs would be used to inform the production of the response to the NHS Long Term Plan - the next Coventry and Warwickshire Five year Plan. The report set out the time line which included production of the draft plan during the summer, engagement from September with publication of the Five Year Plan in November 2019. Members were offered the opportunity for a workshop session late September/ early October to be involved in the development stage of the Plan.   

Members raised a number of issues in response to the report and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  The inclusion of young girls and pregnancy within the plan

·  Further details about the proposed engagement with the public

·  A request for financial information including details of the progress made to date in relation to the required savings of £276m

·  Details of how the initial savings reported had been achieved including if services had ceased and if work had been outsourced

·  The level of flexibility allowed to ensure the Plan was relevant to Coventry and the future monitoring arrangements

·  How would the plan be able to address the current problems facing the NHS i.e. recruitment and retention of staff, childhood obesity, waiting times for cancer diagnosis and treatment etc

·  Clarification about the additional funding being made available to the NHS

·  The accountability for the new Five Year Plan

·  Concerns about the delays in assessments for autism and, in particular, the lack of support for young adults aged 18-20

·  A suggestion to provide young carers with opportunities to progress to a career in nursing which could help with the current staffing issues

·  What the City Council could do to support the Plan.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The contents of the report be noted

(2) A further report on the NHS Long Term Plan be submitted to a future meeting of the Board with particular reference to the £139m of savings already achieved including how these had been secured; the impact on current services; any services that had been discontinued; details of anything that had been outsourced and staffing levels

(3) Arrangements be put in place for workshop for Board members and any other appropriate Councillors at the end of September/ early October to provide the opportunity for members to be involved at the development stage of the Long Term Plan for Coventry and Warwickshire, with  Warwickshire County and Warwickshire District Health Scrutiny Councillors being invited to attend.

(4) A briefing note detailing the engagement activity on the Long Term Plan be circulated to Board members.

(5) A request be made for Autism Services, and in particular the service for young adults, to be considered as a priority for inclusion in the Coventry and Warwickshire Long Term Plan.