Agenda item

The Board are asked to consider the following verbal updates:

·  Local Healthwatch (procurement) – Derek Thorne

·  Public Health – Public Health Officer

o  Public Health Transition Plan

·  PCT – Ed-Macalister Smith

·  CCG – Ian Orpen

·  Council – Ashley Ayre

Local Healthwatch (procurement) - David Trethewey (Divisional Director for Policy and Partnerships) informed the meeting about the on-going process of setting up the Healthwatch for the area.  The procurement process has finished and it was publicly announced that the Wiltshire and Swindon Users’ Network will be appointed.  Everyone who has been involved has been notified about the appointment.  The intention is that new organisation picks up the work as from the 1^st of July this year.  Also, the Cabinet agreed on funding for the Healthwatch.  This is just a start to make the Healthwatch arrangements pretty effective.

David Trethewey informed the board that four organisations were involved in the procurement process.

Diana Hall Hall commented that LINk played its part in the process and that they would be looking forward on the future shape of the Healthwatch.  One of the things that will need to be discussed is the role of the Healthwatch on the Health and Wellbeing Board.  Diana Hall Hall asked to be recorded LINk’s gratitude to Scout Enterprises who provided excellent service to B&NES LINk.

Public Health - Ed Macalister-Smith said that he was very pleased that Paul Scott had been appointed as Acting Joint Director of Public Health.  Paul Scott was already involved in the transition and Public Health team have done a lot of work with Ashley Ayre and his team on the Transition Plan.  In summary – Public Health is in good and solid position.

NHS - Ed Macalister-Smith informed the meeting that strategic objectives for this year, as NHS Cluster with Wiltshire, are to stay in control of day to day duties which is to commission excellent service to patients.  Quite a lot of challenges around but overall the state of health services in the area is very good.  The reform agenda is very substantial and it is speeding up.  Nationally the changes in the NHS are affecting the whole NHS, not only the commissioning part.  The key change for the commissioning part is the establishment of the Commissioning Board (which will drive many of the changes that are about to come around).  Key decision of the NHS Commissioning Board was to make appointments to the four layer original tiers (London, South of England, Midlands and North).  Chief Executive for South of England, that we are in, is Andrea Young.  Andrea Young’s will be thinking of setting up her own management team and also be responsible of setting up local offices for the Commissioning Board (27 in total across the country).  Local office for this area will include Wiltshire, Bath, North-East Somerset, Gloucestershire and Swindon.  Each local area team will need around couple of months to make appointments.  Each local area team will have common structure in the office (lead manager, lead doctor, lead nurse, etc.) and they will be expected to engage strongly with the local Health and Wellbeing Boards.  Some of those 27 local offices will have additional functions on behalf of 2-4 of those local offices such as functions for special commissioning, managing the special services for military and ex-military personnel and similar.  Transition Plan (handover from the PCT to the Council and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)) is in place.  It is a difficult time for staff who has no clarity on what is going to happen to them although national promise is that people will be clear what will happen to them by December this year. 

Ed Macalister-Smith explained that in future specialised commissioning will be responsibility of Commissioning Boards and not with the CCG as they have to cover quite wide area.

Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – Dr Ian Orpen said that the CCG are quite happy with the developments.  The CCG have appointed the Project Manager to help them going through the re-organisation.  The CCG also appointed Interim Strategic Finance Officer (Sarah James) and also Chief Operating Officer (Tracey Cox).  The guidance for the CCG work has been rolled out.  The key thing for the CCG is the development of its Constitution.  Dr Ian Orpen also said that B&NES CCG had useful conversation with Wiltshire CCG on range of things including the arrangements on what information can be shared between different CCGs.

Council – Ashley Ayre said that People and Communities will start formal consultation with the staff, unions and associations and partners on 18^th June.  The re-design of the department is in two phases.  The first phase is to sort out the divisional structure of the senior management and the second will provide the detailed structure of each of the Divisions. .  The reason for the re-design links to the change strategy of the council and the range of external changes underway including NHS reform, reform of adult social care services and the changes to schools and the Munro review of child protection services..  Ashley Ayre said that he was also delighted that Paul Scott is appointed as the Acting Joint Director of Public Health.  Ashley Ayre also said that White Paper on Adult Social Care will probably not be ready before Christmas 2012.  There is also strong commitment to work very closely with the NHS and CCG on transition.  Staff consultation is on-going and there were a number of briefings and meetings held with the staff and Trade Unions.  The Council will start detailed consultation in mid-September on phase two of the re-structure.

The Chair thanked everyone who provided their verbal updates.