Agenda item

To consider the New Models of Care/Fylde Coast Vanguard value proposition.

Mr Roy Fisher, Chairman of the Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group and Mr David Bonson, Chief Operating Officer introduced the Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) report on New Models of Care. The report itself was part of a submission to NHS England in order to bid for a portion of the £200 million funding for Vanguard sites. Blackpool CCG had already been awarded Vanguard status with a key aim to coordinate care at a more local level.

The Committee queried the Fylde Coast approach, noting the differences between Blackpool and its more affluent neighbours in Wyre and Fylde. Mr Fisher advised that these differences had been considered and where needs were different, specific services would be provided to meet the needs. He added that a tailored approach to care would be taken, with Public Health data used to inform service provision.

Members requested further information regarding how the new way of working would be funded if the CCG was not successful in the bidding process. Mr Fisher advised that the CCG Board had made the decision to take the lead and invest without knowing how much funding might be received from NHS England. Although aware that costs for acute provision were constantly increasing and a change to more primary care was needed to bring acute costs down. The aim was that long term savings would be made in acute care and these would fund the new models of primary care.

The Committee appreciated the need to move to new models of care, but identified that without funding from NHS England it might be difficult to implement the proposals and further queried how confident the CCG was that some funding would be received. Mr Bonson advised that Blackpool CCG had already been appointed a Vanguard site and was therefore confident that it would receive a share of the funding available. He added that there would be an overlap in the need to continue to fund acute service provision to the same level and fully fund the proposals for new models of care as it would take time to transition to the new model.

In response to a question, Mr Bonson advised that the CCG had also identified issues surrounding post code boundaries, particularly in relation to the third sector, whereby service provision was different for patients. Upon further challenge, he identified that it was a problem that needed to be explored in depth in order to understand all the issues to try and find a solution which was something the CCG would undertake.

Members queried the means by which patients had been identified as appropriate to move into the New Models of Care programme. Mr Bonson advised that patients for extensive care had been identified using a risk stratification tool that considered risk of admission to hospital, primary care data and the conditions patients had in order to produce a risk score between zero and 20. As that was a new way of working, patients would be identified based on this score and moved into the new model of care. He added that once the service was fully operational, patients would most likely be referred in by GPs. The service would also be tested to determine whether it was making a difference and preventing admissions to hospital.

The Committee queried if winter might negatively impact upon the way the new models of care would work. In response, Mr Bonson advised that an increase in social care support might be required, however, it would be important to keep care coordinated so that unnecessary hospital admissions were avoided.

The Committee agreed:

To receive an update in approximately six months on the progress made in the New Models of Care approach with a focus on performance and the impact on patients, including case studies.