Agenda item

The Bromley Place Executive Director advised that Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) had been asked to produce a 5-year Joint Forward Plan (JFP) in order to ensure a strategic approach was in taken in terms of delivery. The SEL ICB had taken the approach that this would be brought together by incorporating input from all six boroughs into the SEL Plan. Another element was the Integrated Care Strategy – this was a longer-term piece of work which set out the ambitions for South East London – improving health; providing better quality services; and reducing the need for acute services. This would incorporate a number of elements, including improving mental health services; ensuring the best start for children and families; and improving the management of long-term conditions.

Within the borough they had worked with partners to develop a strategy for Bromley over the next five years. Support had been secured from the King’s Fund and through the One Bromley Executive and Local Care Partnership Board a set of local priorities had been agreed. The local strategy linked with the Bromley Health and Wellbeing Strategy and was structured around improving population health and wellbeing through prevention and personalised care. It also aimed to ensure that high quality services were closer to home, delivered through communities, and there was good access to urgent and unscheduled care services. Other strategies had also been taken into account. The Fuller Review had prompted further work in relation to better working within localities and neighbourhoods and supporting general practice.

The Bromley Place Executive Director advised that the Health and Wellbeing Board were being asked to confirm that they were content with the proposals and noted that the strategy would continue to evolve over time.

The Chairman stated that the process had been very inclusive, and consideration was being given as to how services could be best delivered within the overall framework. Congratulations were extended to all who had been involved in this work. The Director of Children's Social Care said it was positive to see that children were reflected throughout both documents, which was not necessarily the case within other ICBs. The Chairman considered that the development of this work was seen as an exemplar in London, and beyond, and had been noted at the highest level.

In response to a question, the Bromley Place Executive Director said that prevention was at the forefront of many pieces of work, such as proactive care, Health Checks and vaccinations. They would ensure that when implementation plans were being discussed this would be made much clearer. The Chairman highlighted that the Board’s response, which stated that they strongly supported the aim of preventing illness and promoting health through local place-based initiatives.

A Board Member said they welcomed the latest version, which took into account the comments provided, which acknowledged the voluntary sector’s role in terms of being a trusted mechanism to engage with the community and provide an important source of data. It was noted that there was a paper being drafted in relation to a charter for partnership working with the voluntary and community sector, which may also need to be aligned with the strategy. The Chairman highlighted that the charter would be particularly important for Bromley due to the high number of volunteers within the borough. The Bromley Place Executive Director considered that Bromley was in a very good position in terms of the work being undertaken by the third sector – the CEO, Bromley Third Sector Enterprise, was part of the Local Care Partnership Board and Bromley Well were contracted to deliver a number of services, ranging from loneliness to supporting hospital discharge.

In response to questions, the Bromley Place Executive Director advised that a number of elements included in the plan were things that were already being worked on. The SEL ICB had earmarked some monies to help reduce inequalities – such as increasing the uptake of vaccinations and cancer screening. With regards to shared financial reporting, it was noted that the challenged faced when establishing the ICB was how the collective benefit for residents could be shown. Shared financial reporting was to provide an understanding of what each organisation was spending, and was not about having a single or joined budget. When putting the detail together this was found to be extremely complex, and the Chairs of the Local Care Partnership Board had asked for it to be presented in such a way to provide an idea of what had been spent collectively, particularly on transformation and new projects that improved health and wellbeing. The Director of Adult Social Care said the benefit of being open and transparent about budgets had allowed discussions about how to make changes to the whole system. It was acknowledged that by sharing this data the knock-on effect of any changes made could be seen. The acute trust agreeing to move some of its resources into community services was a unique situation, and was a good indication that sharing financial data allowed decisions to be made which kept the Bromley pound moving with the demand and provided better services. A Board Member considered that it would be beneficial if money could be spent jointly using local services and suppliers.

A Member advised that a number of discussions had taken place at the Local Care Partnership Board, including conversations regarding the government’s planned social care reforms. All partners were as one in the understanding that there was not a huge pot of money. There were a number of objectives, such as early discharge from hospital. If this was undertaken correctly it could save time, effort and money for health services and the Council and, most importantly, it would provide a better service and outcomes for Bromley residents and patients. It was noted that money was not being pooled, however if there were agreed outcomes that suited the agencies involved they could work together on one-off projects to achieve these.

RESOLVED that the statement be endorsed, and the plans approved.