Agenda item

To update the Committee on the development of the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System (ICS) five year strategy and provide an opportunity for Members to discuss the content and provide feedback to support the production of the final strategy document. 

Dr Amanda Doyle, Chief Clinical Officer for Blackpool CCG, Fylde and Wyre CCG and West Lancashire CCG and Integrated Care System (ICS) Lead for Lancashire and South Cumbria presented the draft Strategy to the Committee and highlighted that additional work was required to narrow the financial gap before it could be signed off by NHS England. She advised that a range of partners had been consulted and that the Strategy set out how the ICS would meet the identified challenges.

Members referred to the Sustainability Transformation Plan from 2015 and noted that there were many similarities with that Plan and the new draft ICS Strategy and queried why more progress had not been made. In response, Dr Doyle acknowledged that change had not been radical but cited the progress made in establishing the Primary Care Networks and social prescribing. She added that demand had increased which was providing a challenge for services to meet when capacity could not be increased at the same pace. Outside factors such as cuts to local authority budgets had also made it harder.

In reference to the challenge to narrow the financial gap, Dr Doyle advised that it was a significant gap and that workforce remained a key issue. She reported that the cost of agency and bank staff was much greater than permanent staff and that at the same time they did not have the same level of buy in when trying to drive improvement. In response, the ICS was aiming to attract staff from the area into appropriate education and training and was working with schools, colleges and universities in the area to achieve this.

The Committee highlighted the large footprint of the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICS and queried how the needs of Blackpool, as a small town with specific needs, could be met within the wider System. In response, Dr Doyle advised that the Primary Care Networks would be key in developing local responses and that decisions would not be taken that would disadvantage any area.

The level of deprivation in Blackpool was discussed and the impact of deprivation on health. Dr Doyle reported that a new formula of funding had been developed to provide a greater weighting to deprivation and therefore provide more investment per head in Blackpool. In response to further questions she advised that it was important to assist people to take better care of themselves. Ms Beth Goodman, Head of Acute Commissioning, Integrated Care Partnership added that the benefits of social prescribing being a non-medicalised model were becoming evident.

The Committee queried when outcomes and the impact of the changes would be evidenced and Dr Doyle advised that it would be a number of years before systematic change could be demonstrated. In addition to the ICS Strategy a more local Integrated Care Partnership Strategy was being produced that was focussed on the Fylde Coast. The Strategies were being developed alongside each other.

The Committee agreed to receive the final strategy and operational planning documents in addition to the plan for commissioning reform in due course.