Agenda item

Presentation from Managing Director, Harrow Integrated Care Partnership, NW London ICS

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from the Managing Director of the Northwest London ICS which gave an update on the progress of the Harrow Borough Based Partnership in the context of the wider development of the Integrated System developments.  The following points were raised:

·                 The health and care act legislation had been delayed and the integrated care partnership and integrated care board were now expected to be established as legal entities on 1 July 2022, with new processes to be developed.

·                 The ICS had commenced work to develop its strategy for the next three years and an action plan for the forthcoming year.  It was mentioned that critical to this work was the role of the borough-based partnerships in these new arrangements and Harrow would be involved in the development process.

·                 The statutory ICS would be made up of two key bodies: the first would be the Integrated Care Board (ICBs) which would oversee the NHS planning functions previously held by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the planning roles from NHS England would likely be absorbed.  The ICB would have their own leadership team, with a a chair and chief executive included.

Secondly the Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) would operate as a statutory committee, with NHS and local authorities bought together as equal partners to focus more widely on health, public health and social care.  This committee would be responsible for the development of an integrated care strategy, which would set out how the wider health needs of the local population would be met.

·                 Priorities for change to be enabled for the ICP transformational workstreams included population health management and how health inequalities were tackled remained a top priority.  Other priorities included: long-term conditions, mental health, Learning disability and autism, frailty and care settings, children and young people and finally, carers.

·                 The response to the pandemic from the ICS included business continuity plans enacted which revolved around three key areas, which were: vaccinations where GP Practices and pharmacies played a key role in the delivery of vaccinations, with vaccine hesitancy and engagement were also a key focus in this area.

Secondly, the management of urgent care demand was a key area in relation to the pandemic. Primary care services remained open and responsive during the Omicron wave.  The NHS winter access fund was implemented in Harrow so that access was increased to urgent care services and for acute admissions to be prevented.

Finally, supporting discharge from hospital.  Action had been taken across the partnership to support the hospital discharge process.  A home and settle service was established to support individuals to return home in order to prevent readmissions.

·                 The 100-day plan managed to progress a number of key priorities which included the establishment of the population health management intelligence group.  Also, a lot of staff engagement and feedback had taken place over this period which had fed into the integration operational leads’ group action plan.

·                 The better care fund approach and schedule for 2022/23 had been agreed locally and submitted to NWL.

·                 There had been a focus on the frailty pathway, which allowed for health and care services to better support individuals to stay within their community and for emergency hospitals admissions to be avoided where possible.

·                 It was highlighted as part of the transformation programme that a new model for frailty would be developed, the integration of training and education in Harrow amongst agencies which would allow for training opportunities to be made more accessible across the partnership.

In addition, stronger partnerships between primary and secondary care were to be created in order for communication to be improved, work streamlined, with duplications reduced.

Finally, for action to be taken on health inequalities with work continued with Voluntary Action Harrow in response to the work carried out by Harrow Council with the black community leaders.  There had been an active focus particularly around diabetes and mental health care, with significant engagement undertaken by six community-based organisations for experience accessing mainstream services to be better understood.

The Chair thanked officers and NHS representatives for their updates. The Sub-Committee asked questions as followed:

·                 It was raised by a representative from Health Watch that there was concern that confusion could be caused with the number of bodies and change of names.  Clearer communications and definitions would be welcomed.  The Managing Director of the ICS welcomed these comments and noted that complications surrounding what was statutory and not statutory meant that the name Borough Based Partnerships needed to be introduced. Communications would be delivered once changes had been settled.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.