To review the better care fund 2018/19 quarter four national performance and end of year feedback.

The Board was invited to review the better care fund (BCF) 2018/19 quarter four national performance and end of year feedback.

The Head of integration and Partnerships (HIP) presented the report.  She noted that to meet the national deadline the content of the returns had been submitted using delegated powers.  However, the report provided the Board with the opportunity to review the returns and provide feedback.

She reported that the BCF guidance for 2019/20 had not yet been issued.  There would therefore be no quarter one report.  The expectation was that requirements would remain the same and work was underway to draw up the required plan on that basis.  She had been informed that morning that the delay was a consequence of ongoing discussions nationally on the respective inflationary uplift between health and social care.  The sum involved would not be significant in planning terms.  The indication from government was that a decision was imminent, but that had been the indication for some time.  The plan for 2019/20 had to be submitted by the end of September.

The Director for adults and communities commented that the delay and uncertainty did represent a risk but this would be managed.  A similar situation had arisen in preparing the 2018/19 plan. 

It was observed that, although not large in overall budgetary terms, the outcome may have some service implications.  It was proposed that when the outcome was known and guidance received the Board should therefore be informed by correspondence and any implications highlighted, rather than waiting to report to a formal meeting of the Board.

In response to a question about delayed transfer of care the HIP commented that performance for April 2019 was below target, the local authority being slightly over target, the health service slightly below.  It was noted that reporting was to change to provide a total for the system as a whole reflecting that the key point was the patient experience of the system as a whole and improved outcomes for them.  For managerial purposes monitoring of the separate targets would continue, but it was to be hoped that the time the current system led each body to expend challenging the statistics of the other would reduce.

RESOLVED:

That      (a)     the better care fund (BCF) quarter four performance report at appendix one as submitted to NHS England, be received and the latest performance on delayed transfer of care and the move to measuring it in future at a system level be noted;

(b)       on occasions when board meetings do not coincide with national submission dates, the director for adults and communities has delegated authority, following consultation with the accountable officer of the Clinical Commissioning Group (or their delegate), to approve the submission and to present this to the next available board meeting to enable review of performance and make recommendations for improvement;

            (c)        the director for adults and communities be authorised, following consultation with the chairperson of the Health and Wellbeing Board and with the agreement of the accountable officer at the Clinical Commissioning Group (or their delegate), to approve the 2019/20 BCF and Integration plan; and

            (d)        when the guidance on the BCF for 2019/20 including the financial settlement was received the Board should be informed by correspondence and any implications highlighted.