Agenda item

15 minutes

Laura Ambler, Executive Director of Place – B&NES BSW ICB to advise the Board of the latest developments.

Laura Ambler, Executive Director of Place – B&NES BSW ICB advised the Board of the latest developments in relation to changes within the NHS:

1.  She reminded the Board that there would be significant changes.  In March it was announced that NHSE would be abolished and its role would be subsumed.  ICBs were instructed to cut costs by 50% and to achieve this, individual ICBs were looking to cluster with other ICBs.  BSW ICB would be clustering with Dorset and Somerset. 

2.  There was a key role for Health and Wellbeing Boards in the NHS 10 Year Plan.  Every locality would be required to prepare neighbourhood plan and the HWB would be responsible for signing off the plan.  B&NES HWB was well placed to respond to this challenge.

3.  Neighbourhood Plans would come together in the ICB clusters (there would be 6 areas in the new cluster) and inform a population health management plan which ICBs would need to take account of in planning services. 

4.  The ICB blueprint identified 13 workstreams to be transferred out, this was being reviewed to see where this work would sit. 

5.  The regional blueprint for NHSE had not yet materialised.

6.  There would be different time scales for changes as some required legislation.

Board members raised the following questions/comments:

1.  How could services be delivered in the context of 50% cuts to the ICB?  The cluster was looking at a new operating model and identifying what needed to be done across the whole area and what needed to be done at a place perspective.  The first step would be the appointment of a Chair and Chief Executive Officer for the cluster.  Early indications were that there was a function for place and that this would be built into the operating model. 

2.  Will the ICB still provide the same services in relation to children and SEND?  This was not clear, SEND was originally on the list of services to be retained for a period of time or maybe indefinitely.  The ICB would need to keep working with the local authority as there was a shared statutory duty.

3.  Is there any indication that there will be a cut in budgets for services?  The cuts would be in relation to operational costs and there was no planned reduction to the costs of programmes.

4.  Further guidance would be produced with details of Neighbourhood Plans and how they would differ from the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy and the ICB Strategy.

5.  B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire had experience of working together across three local authority areas which was a strong position to be in when moving towards clustering.

6.  In relation to the future of Healthwatch, until there was legislative change Healthwatch was continuing to carry out its statutory function.  There was a petition asking the Government to support the independent voice in relation to health services.

7.  In terms of boundaries, healthcare had been grouped together with Swindon and Wiltshire for a long time and to move away from that may cause more problems than it solved.  Patients had always crossed boundaries to access health services and this would continue to happen, e.g., residents of B&NES accessing health services in Bristol.  There may be a future expectation for health services to align with the strategic authority (West of England Combined Authority) and any formal merger between ICBs would need to take this, along with other issues, into account.

8.  Whatever the future model would be, it was important to continue to work together effectively with the ICB.

The Chair thanked Laura Ambler for the update and acknowledged the difficult position for ICB staff in responding to the changes.