Agenda item

13:15

(Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West Integrated Care Board)

To receive an initial draft.

The Committee considered a draft engagement strategy from the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire West Integrated Care Board.

Before discussing the draft strategy, the Chair had agreed to a request to speak:

Joan Stewart, Keep Our NHS Public, stated that the engagement strategy had to be seen in the context of the wider strategy for BOB.  The Board’s strategy stated that it had to support those most in need.  She believed that this entailed rationing services according to the limited funding from central government.

She noted that the head of Healthwatch England had resigned in protest at the reduction in resources available to it.  She also believed that the Board members were being appointed for their financial expertise and none had been brought on to oversee the engagement strategy.

Joan Stewart described the strategy as tokenistic and believed that it would not achieve any meaningful public involvement where the real decisions were made - at Board level.

The Chair described the strategy as deeply disappointing as was the fact that the Committee had only heard about it recently.  She asked for comments to be submitted to the scrutiny officer by Friday 13 May in order to prepare a draft response by 18 May.

The BOB-ICB had not provided a speaker for this item but Catherine Mountford, Director of Governance for the Integrated Care Board, had sent a statement to be read out.

“One of the NHSE requirements for Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) is to develop a strategy for working with people and communities in line with the published guidance available here.  Following some early discussion with the five Healthwatches across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB), lead governors and the VCSE alliance we have developed an initial draft for BOB ICB’s strategy for engaging with people and communities.  This was submitted to NHSE and published on our engagement site just before Easter.  It has now been more widely circulated/communicated and we welcome comments on it. For context it is a very general and high level draft strategy about an approach for ways in which the new ICB can work with people and communities across the geography.   This would guide our approach for individual projects and service reviews.

Any comments received by Wednesday 18 May will inform the next iteration of the strategy to be considered by the BOB Integrated Care System (ICS) Development Board and then submitted to NHSE. A final version will not be ratified until the first ICB Board meeting on 1 July. Comments received by 17 June can be used to inform the draft that will be submitted to the ICB Board.”

Asked if she had been in contact with the Chairs of the other Health scrutiny committees in the BOB area, the Chair confirmed that she had been and they had been equally surprised.  She believed that the document was a very early indication of the culture and priorities of the ICB.  Success depended on strength at Place between local government and health partners along with effective scrutiny.

Members agreed that the document was most unsatisfactory.  It did not amount to any kind of effective engagement with the public and appeared to be a box-ticking exercise.  The Committee would need to see a dramatic improvement in the next draft.

Action:

Invite the new chair of the ICB to come to the June meeting of the Committee.