Agenda item

(10 minutes)

To update the Board on the Adult Social Care Discharge Grant.

Gary Guest

Gary Guest, Commissioning Project and Programme Manager, B&NES updated the Board as follows:

Adult Social Care Discharge Fund - Scheme RAG rating:

1. Big Packages of Home Care £200k – RED: This project was being reviewed.
2. Art+ Investment £100k – GREEN: This project expected to make impact.
3. Social Worker Recruitment £160k – AMBER: There were some agency workers in place.
4. MHSocial Worker Recruitment £40k – RED: funding had now been released to the RUH.
5. Assistive Technology £190k – GREEN: there were a number of ongoing schemes.
6. Care Journey Coordinator Recruitment £139k – AMBER: interviews had been arranged.
7. Community Wellbeing Hub £105k – GREEN: self-serve kiosks went live on the 13 March.

8.  Hospital Discharge Support Payment £62.5k – GREEN: launched in February.

Better Care Fund (BCF) - 2022-23 Closing and 2023-24 Planning

1.  25 individual schemes were funded through the BCF in 2022-23

2.  12 schemes will close at the end of March 2023

3.  13 schemes have existing commitments through to 2023-24

4.  Financial review in-progress to identify available ‘uncommitted’ funding to support new initiatives in 2023-24

5.  Process for applying for 2023-24 funding to be confirmed and communicated.

6.  Outcome of review will be presented to HWB at next board meeting.

2-year plan:

7. The policy framework & planning requirements remain in draft, aiming to publish by end of March.
8. Capacity and demand planning will form a more integral part of BCF planning for 2023-25.
9. Estimates of capacity and demand should influence plans for delivering against both the programme objectives:

10. This will include a section in the narrative plan detailing learning from the capacity and demand exercise and plans to address gaps in capacity and how these will feed into metric ambitions.

Regional update:

11. Dept. Health and Social Care feedback provided on 2022-23 BCF narrative plan.
12. Strengths of submission were highlighted including governance, BSW inequalities strategy and homelessness discharge support.
13. Areas to strengthen: partnership with voluntary sectors, better use of equalities & inequalities impact assessments to drive continuous improvement and more detail on carer services to be included in next submission.

Better Care Fund – Next Steps

1.  Conclude BCF end of year review - review of existing commitments in to 2023-24 to determine available ‘uncommitted’ funding.

2.  Agree & Open Process - determine application process for new initiatives seeking BCF financial investment.

3.  Agree priorities - determine system priorities & follow application process, playing outcomes through correct governance.

Board members raised the following comments:

1.  Will Godfrey questionedwhether the increase in the number of discharges from hospital was due to the money or new capacity.  He stressed the need for a breakdown of how much capacity was already in the system which could be used more effectively and how much was due to extra money.  He confirmed it was important to understand the system as if it was just due to the additional money, it would not be sustainable once the funding stopped.  Laura Ambler responded that it was a combination of process and money but acknowledged that it was important to identify what made a difference.  Gary Guest undertook to look into this issue.

2.  In response to a question about what would happen if the recruitment process was still ongoing at the end of March, Gary Guest stated that it was uncertain if money could be carried over into the next year. 

3.  In response to a question about if there was any duplication between the Active Recovery Team (ART) at the RUH and re-enablement services, Val Scrase responded that there was not a duplication and the ARTs team provided short term support.

4.  Kate Morton stressed the need for due diligence in allocating funding as there was resource in the Third Sector that could be utilised. 

5.  Becky Reynolds stated that future funding needed to reflect the priorities in the Health and Wellbeing Strategy.  Laura Ambler undertook to take this forward with Gary Guest/Judith Westcott.

The Board RESOLVED to;

1.  Note the update in relation to the Better Care Fund/Adult Social Care Discharge Fund, in particular that evidence led planning would feed into the priorities for the next round of funding.

key messages from the meeting

1.  The Health and Wellbeing Strategy was signed off and board members committed to champion the strategy through partner organisations and networks.

2.  There was a commitment from the Board to recognise the work of the key partner 3SG.

3.  The Board would link with the Carers’ Forum with a view to getting information for partners to support National Carers’ Week in June.

4.  better Care Fund. There would be evidence led planning to feed into the priorities for the next round of funding.

Action log