Agenda item

To note the delegated decision to agree the Better Care Fund agreement.

Linda Jackson provided a brief overview of the Better Care Fund (BCF) operational and strategic framework that allowed the NHS and council to establish a shared budget.  The report set out the details of the BCF financial agreement which would support a locally prioritised, integrated health and social care approach aimed at improving rates of hospital discharge and ensuring that support was provided in the community.  Key points included the retendering of the council’s home care service, proactive work with NHS colleagues to develop a more integrated approach which could reduce the reliance on community nursing, and the reprovision of existing services.

Sue Spiller asked if there were opportunities for voluntary and community services (VCS) to get involved in providing preventative support services and how this could be facilitated and delivered as part of the BCF programme.  This raised the question of how early intervention and prevention work could be funded and Linda Jackson indicated that there was scope to further explore this in the future round of funding.  Councillor Coleman highlighted a concern about home care staff being effectively asked to provide clinical support that they were not trained to deliver. It was acknowledged that this was difficult issue however, a program of training for domiciliary care workers would be implemented under the new BCF contract.

Nadia Taylor enquired if there was any indication occupational and physiotherapy staff would be taking strike action. It was confirmed that there was no information to indicate any social care strike action. Rob Hurd reported that operational plans to mitigate in response to planned action had been implemented across the North West London Integrated Care System (NWL ICS). This would ensure that contingencies were in place around service delivery, some of which would be downscaled to support essential core services to minimise the impact.

Councillor Coleman thanked NHS staff for their commitment and work in keeping residents safe. The Board felt discouraged by the government’s reluctance to engage with unions to broker a swift and effective resolution for NHS nurses and to alleviate the significant concerns of residents.

RESOLVED

That the Health and Wellbeing board approved the Better Care Fund agreement 2022/23.