Agenda item
Better Care Fund (5:16pm)
The purpose of this report is to inform the Health and Wellbeing Board of the recent Better Care Fund (BCF) planning submission which is a national requirement.
It also includes detail on how City of York Council and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) will work together to further join up commissioning and develop the care market.
Minutes:
The report was presented by the Assistant Director, Community Integration Humber and North Yorkshire ICB (York Place) and the Finance Manager, Corporate Finance Team, City of York Council. They advised the Board of the recent Better Care Fund (BCF) annual planning template, which is a national requirement.
The planning submission template collects data on the use of BCF funding and ambitions for performance on BCF metrics (performance objectives) and activity to achieve these as well as on capacity and demand planning.
The Assistant Director, Community Integration further explained that it was a requirement to provide a summary of the strategic approach to integration of health and social care to support further improvement of outcomes for people with care and support needs. Included in this we provide narrative on specific schemes, outcomes and what they are trying to achieve.
Acknowledging the current direction of travel and the shift towards a more joined up approach to commissioning, we have also included detail on how City of York Council and NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) will work together to further join up commissioning and develop the care market.
The board asked whether rising inflation had impacted the ability to afford services, since this had the potential to reduce support offered to some organisations. The Finance Manager, Corporate Finance Team confirmed that this had been difficult; the amount contributed to the Better Care Fund by the Council had remained static for the last two years. Whereas in the past a surplus pool had provided the option to “bid” for funding, leading to new services like the Local Area Coordinators and the York Integrated Care Team; the ability to do this had now been limited. The emphasis had shifted to effective management of existing resources rather than new investment.
The Assistant Director, Community Integration proceeded to take the group through some of the schemes contributing to the performance objectives, including admission avoidance, discharge improvement and early support at home. In response to questions from the board she clarified some anticipatory care also aimed to prevent people going into hospital in the first instance.
The board asked about the process from diagnosing a need for a service to sourcing a provider to delivering an outcome, as well as the associated challenges. The Assistant Director, Community Integration explained that consideration was given to prior years BCF submissions, since little variation tended to occur year on year, it was also similar with contracts and specifications so schemes were scrutinised to ensure they provided best value and met key performance indicators. Performance was monitored throughout the year, and the spending forecast was put forward annually. In terms of challenges, they needed to take into account what was reasonable from providers, if providers came to her in the middle of a year and said that they were unable to provide a service due to inflationary uplift, a financial driver etc these factors would be considered on a case by case basis by the performance delivery group.
The Chair of York CVS stated that she had been on the delivery board for six years, and there had been a review every one of those years. She felt that this year would be different because the report was more thorough and really addressed some of the challenges within a really challenging environment. She felt that excellent work had been done, and was grateful as she felt CVS was seriously disadvantaged when cuts were made in the past. She proposed ring fencing funding when funds were as tight as they currently are.
In response to queries from the board The Assistant Director, Community Integration stated that the BCF wished to hold itself accountable and acknowledged that these are not just figures on paper but funding that has a real impact on people’s lives. The BCF would consider reintroducing case studies, which they had used in the past.
Resolved: The Health and Wellbeing Board considered the content of this report and supported the ongoing oversight of the planning and implementation of the Better Care Fund. The Board also noted the next steps with agreement that the findings and any associated proposals be discussed at a future meeting.
Reason: To keep up to date with the work of the Better Care Fund and monitor progress regarding recommendations.
Supporting documents:
- HWBB Report_Better Care Fund Update, item 5. PDF 227 KB View as HTML (5./1) 53 KB
- A1. Guidance - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 179 KB
- A2. Cover - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 215 KB
- A3. Summary - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 154 KB
- A4.i. C&D Hospital Discharge - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 203 KB
- A4.ii. C&D Community - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 143 KB
- A5. Income - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 146 KB
- A6.i. Expenditure - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 240 KB
- A6.ii. Expenditure Guidance- BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 174 KB
- A7. Narrative Updates - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 218 KB
- A8. Metrics - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 165 KB
- A9 - Planning Requirements - BCF 2024-25 Planning Template V3.1 - V8 240624, item 5. PDF 197 KB