Agenda and minutes

The Chairman extended a welcome to guests:

·         Stuart Bell, Chief Executive, Oxford Health Foundation Trust;

·         Mark Mansfield, Director of Finance and Deputy Chief Executive, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Lucy Butler attended for Jim Leivers and apologies were received from Councillor Hilary Hibbert-Biles and Councillor Mark Booty.

There were no declarations of interest submitted.

There were no requests to submit a petition or to make an address to the meeting.

To approve the Note of Decisions of the meeting held on 17 July  2014                    (HBW5) and to receive information arising from them.

The note of the last meeting was approved and signed.

Matters Arising

In respect of Minute 25/14 (paragraph 1, page 6) – Project on Discharge  Jean Nunn-Price reminded all related partners to let Healthwatch Oxfordshire know as soon possible who their representative would be who would attend a Project Steering Group on the subject.

In respect of Minute 25/14 (paragraph 2) – HWO Annual Report -  Jean Nunn-Price pointed out that the HWO Annual Report had been made available to all members of the Board, but if a Member had still not received one, to let her know.

In respect of Minute 25/14 (paragraph 3) – Submission of HWO reports to Board -  Jean Nunn-Price expressed a preference that a summary of all recommendations across all reports completed by HWO , complete with  commitments of actions and outcomes, be submitted to the Board at the appropriate times. The Board welcomed this.

The purpose of this paper is to seek agreement on the proposed use of the Better Care Fund in Oxfordshire, prior to submission to NHS England by 19 September 2014. This is an update to the plan previously agreed by Cabinet and the Health and Wellbeing Board in March 2014, to reflect updated Government guidance and requirements issued in July and August 2014.

It is a Government requirement that plans are agreed by the Health and Wellbeing Board prior to submission, as well as the County Council and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group. A report is attached at HWB6.

The Board is RECOMMENDED to:

Agree the Better Care Fund Plan for Oxfordshire for submission to NHS England by 19th September 2014, subject to the inclusion of any necessary changes which may be required following consideration by the County Council Cabinet and Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body as agreed by Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Oxfordshire had previously submitted a proposed Better Fund Plan on 4 April 2014, following agreement by County Council Cabinet, Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body and the Health & Wellbeing Board.

On 17 July 2014, John Jackson had presented his position paper to the Board on the Better Care Fund Plan for Oxfordshire. The Board had noted the paper and agreed to hold a special meeting to consider an updated Better Care Fund Plan that reflected updated guidance, when received, prior to submission to NHS England, thence to Government.

Updated Government guidance had been issued in July and August 2014. A covering report and then a supplementary report containing an updated approach by Oxfordshire to the requirements of the Plan were before the Board for consideration (HWB6).

David Smith and Councillor Mrs Heathcoat introduced the report highlighting the major issues which had led to the Oxfordshire’s approach and the areas of challenge for discussion.

Discussion involving all Board members covered the following topics:

·         Low levels of unplanned hospital admissions locally alongside information on length of stay;

·         Experience of other CCGs and local authorities in devising their Better Care Fund Plans;

·         Provision of services appropriate to individual need;

·         The likelihood that the plan will result in the desired savings;

·         Implementation of the plan through new contracts from April 2015;

·         The need for clear communication in plain English for all aspects of this work;

·         Clarification that there will be no impact on Disabled Facilities Grant or Carers’ Breaks/Grant as a result of the plan to be submitted.

It was clarified that the next step was to produce a draft single - agency strategy to determine what care should be available in Oxfordshire. Work with local organisations, such as Healthwatch Oxfordshire would be crucial in this process to enable the correct patient outcomes.

At the conclusion of the discussion it was:

RESOLVED (unanimously) to approve the overview of the Better Care Fund Plan for Oxfordshire as set out in the supplementary report, for submission to NHS England by 19 September 2014, subject to the inclusion of any necessary changes made in consultation with the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board following consideration by the County Council Cabinet and the Clinical Commissioning Group Governing Body.