Agenda item

1.      That the update on health and social care integration planning in Surrey and the emerging Sustainability and Transformation Plans be noted.           

2.      That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Adults Social Care and Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence and the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health, to finalise and approve the 2016/17 Surrey Better Care Fund plan from the Council’s point of view in line with the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan.

3.      That the finalised 2016/17 Better Care Fund Plan should be presented to the Surrey Health and Wellbeing Board for final approval on 7 April 2016.

Reasons for Decisions:

Integration of health and social care will support the provision of better outcomes to

Surrey residents and enable the council to better influence and control the source of demand for social care services.

Pursuing opportunities for further integration will help to ensure the County Council

meets its statutory duties, set out in both the Care Act 2014 and the Health and

Social Care Act 2012, for encouraging and promoting the integration of health and social care.

A specific requirement of the Better Care Fund Planning process is to secure approval of plans from the Council, the relevant CCGs and the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The deadlines and tight timescales for submission necessitate the recommendation included in this report to delegate authority to the Strategic Director for Adults Social Care and Public Health (in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence and the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health) to finalise and approve the 2016/17 Surrey Better Care Fund plan on behalf of the Council before it is presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board on 7 April 2016.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Wellbeing and Health Scrutiny Board]

The Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health said that one of her responsibilities, together with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence, was to promote social care and health. She said that

the move towards integrated services had become a fundamental part of the way the Council and its partners developed and delivered services for adults and children across Surrey. This has been accelerated in health and social care by the introduction of the Better Care Fund, the publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View and was a key strategy for Surrey’s Adult Social Care service to manage increasing demand.

She said that the NHS planning guidance introduced Sustainability and Transformation Plans as the overarching strategy plan for local health and care systems covering the period October 2016 – March 2021 and referred to the geographic ‘footprint’, as set out in the report.

She considered that the first year of the Better Care Fund had been quite successful with the work of the Health and Wellbeing Board helping to improve relationships between NHS England and the County Council.  She also highlighted the joint working relationships to date and hoped that the next stage of integration of health and social care services would be as successful, although she acknowledged that there were a number of risks associated with integration, including financial implications and governance arrangements.

The Cabinet Associate for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence also endorsed the views of the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health.

The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement said that whilst this report had focussed on Adult Social Care she would also like to endorse a similar integration for Children’s Services because she considered that health colleagues were a key partner in the work of this service and that she supported the direction of travel of this initiative.

[Note: the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience left the meeting at 3.30pm, before these recommendations were resolved]

RESOLVED:

1.      That the update on health and social care integration planning in Surrey and the emerging Sustainability and Transformation Plans be noted.           

2.      That authority be delegated to the Strategic Director for Adults Social Care and Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence and the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health, to finalise and approve the 2016/17 Surrey Better Care Fund plan from the Council’s point of view in line with the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan.

3.      That the finalised 2016/17 Better Care Fund Plan should be presented to the Surrey Health and Wellbeing Board for final approval on 7 April 2016.

Reasons for Decisions:

Integration of health and social care will support the provision of better outcomes to

Surrey residents and enable the council to better influence and control the source of demand for social care services.

Pursuing opportunities for further integration will help to ensure the County Council

meets its statutory duties, set out in both the Care Act 2014 and the Health and

Social Care Act 2012, for encouraging and promoting the integration of health and social care.

A specific requirement of the Better Care Fund Planning process is to secure approval of plans from the Council, the relevant CCGs and the Health and Wellbeing Board.

The deadlines and tight timescales for submission necessitate the recommendation included in this report to delegate authority to the Strategic Director for Adults Social Care and Public Health (in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Independence and the Cabinet Member for Wellbeing and Health) to finalise and approve the 2016/17 Surrey Better Care Fund plan on behalf of the Council before it is presented to the Health and Wellbeing Board on 7 April 2016.