Agenda item

Purpose of the Report:

This report will give Members an opportunity to consider areas of focus for the ten year strategic plan for Surrey and to agree an approach for ongoing scrutiny of the plan as it develops over the coming months.

It was agreed that, due to the availability of officers, this item would be considered before Item 6.

Declarations of interests:

There were none

Witnesses:

Helen Atkinson, Executive Director of Public Health, Surrey County Council

Nick Jones, PwC

Tim Oliver, Cabinet Lead Member for People

Matthew Parris, Deputy CEO, Healthwatch Surrey

Key points raised during the discussion

Mr Graham Ellwood entered the meeting at 10.11am

1.     The Committee received an introduction to the report from witnesses who informed Members of the reasons why a Ten Year Strategic Plan for Surrey was being developed and the steps that were being taken in order to build a consensus around shared priorities for the health and care system in the County. These priorities would be informed by extensive engagement with stakeholders and the public as well as from the findings of the intelligence-gathering programme being conducted by PwC.

2.     Clarity was sought from Members of the Committee on whether the Strategic Plan would focus exclusively on improving the health and wellbeing of Surrey residents. Members heard that the PwC had spoken to a range of partners during the intelligence-gathering exercise which had included seeking the views of public sector partners beyond health and social care. The Strategic Plan would form part of the new ‘Vision for Surrey in 2030’ which had been developed by Surrey County Council as part of a single plan to align priorities for all public sector investment in Surrey.

3.     Members requested further information on how the Strategic Plan would interact with the three Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STPs) footprints that are wholly or partly in Surrey. The Committee was informed that the Plan would sit above STPs and would be owned by the Health and Wellbeing Board in accordance with its statutory requirement to produce a Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The membership of the Health and Wellbeing Board was being reviewed to incorporate a much wider range of partners whose voices would taken into account on delivery against agreed outcomes.

4.     Discussions turned to the length of time that it would take for efforts to improve population health in Surrey to be realised with some Members suggesting that it could take a generation or more to mitigate demand arising from poor lifestyle choices. The Committee heard that it was vital to focus on prevention and early intervention to ensure that the health and social care system can manage demand within the budget envelope available and to reduce health inequalities in the County. Witnesses highlighted that evidence collated by PwC and contained within Surrey’s Joint Strategic Needs Assessment had shown that prevention could have a significant impact in the medium term.

5.     The Committee highlighted the importance of engaging with the voluntary, community and faith sector (VCFS) as well as with local businesses regarding the development of priorities for the Strategic Plan. Members were advised that PwC had engaged with VCFS organisations seeking their initial view on the plan but that further engagement work would be conducted with them on shaping priorities.

6.     The Committee enquired as to whether there was the potential for the Strategic Plan to conflict with the Council’s ‘Vision for Surrey in 2030’. Members heard that these were part a single strategy for the delivery of public and voluntary sector services in Surrey. There was close alignment between the Strategic Plan being considered by the Select Committee and the five strategies that had been agreed by Cabinet at its meeting on 30 October 2018.

7.     Clarity was sought on what role residents and patients had played in identifying priorities for the Strategic Plan. The Committee was informed that it was important to have a framework for engagement to support an informed conversation with the public regarding priorities. A commitment was made to adhere to Healthwatch England’s Five Principles for Good Public Engagement when developing Surrey’s Ten Year Strategic Plan.

Actions/ further information to be provided

None

RESOLVED:

That the Health Integration and Commissioning Select Committee:

1. notes the strategic planning work that has commenced;
2. provides feedback on the strategic planning work and on the emerging finds presented at the meeting, adding insight from the work the Committee has undertaken to help shape the approach; and
3. convenes a Task Group to conduct ongoing scrutiny of the 10 Year Strategic Plan for health and social care as it develops and proposes the following areas as an overarching remit for the Task Group:

a.   health inequalities;

b.   outcomes framework; and

c.    how implementation of the proposed plan will deliver against agreed outcomes