Agenda item

To provide an update on the work of the Hammersmith and Fulham Health and Care Partnership.

Caroline Farrar (Managing Director – Hammersmith and Fulham Place Partnership), Donna Barry (Assistant Director – Neighbourhoods) and Ian Jones (Head of Clinical Services - Hammersmith and Fulham Planned Care) introduced the item which outlined the most recent update from the Hammersmith and Fulham Health and Care Partnership. The report included the refreshed approach to working collaboratively to improve health and wellbeing across the borough with a particular focus on integrated care efforts and the development of the Integrated Community Access Point (ICAP). ICAP was an alliance of clinicians and professionals across organisations working with people with the most complex needs, it had been developed in response to the fragmentation of services across multiple providers. The Integrated Community Access Point was a core team of professionals working together across organisations and disciplines, to support people with complex needs. Any adult with a combination of physical health, mental health and social needs could be referred.

Councillor Jackie Borland asked whether there were restrictions on who could refer people to the ICAP scheme, as if anyone was able to refer someone, then the ICAP team would have far too many referrals than there would be capacity for. Ian Jones explained that it was only Health Professionals that could refer people to the ICAP scheme and that so far, it had mainly been GPs. He added that you needed two or more disciplines of Health Professional to refer someone. He mentioned that they had positive data from their testing in the South of the Borough regarding capacity, but that it was being reviewed constantly.

Jim Grealy (Co-Optee) noted that this report had been primarily professional-focused, with other items on the agenda centred on co-production. He mentioned that a Patient Participation Group (PPG) in the south of the borough was meeting that evening, and there was uncertainty as to whether they were aware of this matter, beyond professionals, most people would not know about the scheme, and it remained at a distance from patients. Jim Grealy commented that they could not see an entry point as a patient. Caroline Farrar referred to both local and national evidence, highlighting that patients often had to repeat their stories too many times, which the plan sought to address. For this cohort, co-production had been incorporated into the development of the plan, she explained that the situations were complex and that a prototyping approach was being used, working with patients to identify what was effective and what was not.

The Chair asked for examples where patients had given feedback directly to shape the plan. Ian Jones confirmed that there had been opportunities for feedback from patients and that responses had been positive, the team continued to seek honest feedback. Jim Grealy expressed concern that feedback was being gathered now but had not been sought at the outset. He was surprised to have only become aware of the matter upon reading the agenda and suggested that the issue should be taken to PPGs soon to gather their input. The Chair asked whether PPGs could be incorporated for when introducing ICAP in other areas. Katharine Wilmette (Director – Adult Social Care) advised that GPs were aware as they were making referrals and emphasised the need for a starting point based on evidence. She added that the team had undertaken significant work to share the information as widely as possible.

Councillor Lydia Paynter referred to the National Government’s ten-year health plan, which aimed to move towards neighbourhood health centres. She noted that this approach relied on GPs knowing patients well and warned of the risk that a good scheme might not be fully utilised. Caroline Farrar noted this point but said it was hard to say what the effect would be for future contracts. Ian Jones added that proactive case finding took the reliance away from GPs.

Victoria Brignell shared her recent experience with Health Professionals, she said that one professional she dealt with had been great and the other was not good. She noted that there was a variation in the quality of care. She added that hospitals now had Martha’s Law, which allowed patients to request a change of professional and commented that this should be a possibility in the community.

Fiona Bateman (Independent Chair – Safeguarding Adults Board) mentioned that she was happy to share her findings from their work on the Safeguarding Adults Board regarding proactive case finding.

RESOLVED That:

The Health and Adult Social Care Policy and Accountability Committee noted the report.