Agenda item

This report details information from NHS North Yorkshire & York in response to a recent letter sent by the Chair of this Committee in relation to voluntary sector funding. The Deputy Chief Executive and the Head of Commissioning (Adult and Community Services) from NHS North Yorkshire and York will be in attendance at the meeting to discuss their response to the Chair’s letter.

Members received a report which apprised them of the response that had been received from NHS North Yorkshire and York, following a letter sent to them in relation to Voluntary Sector Funding by the Chair of the Committee.

The Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Commissioning (Adult and Community Services) of NHS North Yorkshire and York attended the meeting and responded to concerns raised by the public speakers. They informed the Committee of a number of points including;

·        That 134 voluntary sector services had been reviewed in total, and that of 80 of those reviewed in 2011, the York Blind and Partially Sighted Society (YBPSS) was only one of a number of services where it was decided to discontinue or cut funding.

·        That they felt that the contractual issues of giving notice of an appeal process had been followed correctly, in that appeals from organisations affected had taken place before and after Christmas 2011.

·        That due to the strength of feeling, that YBPSS was given an extended notice period until June 2012.

·        That the control of budgets for the commissioning of services would transfer from NHS North Yorkshire and York into the Vale of York GP Clinical Commissioning Group, and so YBPSS could submit a revised business case for this group to review

·        That £3 million extra funding had been provided to supply Lucentis to treat blind and partially sighted patients

The Chief Executive of York Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) spoke about the withdrawal of funding from the York Women’s Counselling Service. She felt that the appeal process to re-examine the cut in funding for the organisation was not clear and highlighted that the cost to run the service was inexpensive. She also said that the service was regularly used by GPs to refer patients.

The Chairman of York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust admitted that the process used in identifying services had not been the most suitable, and that services had not been looked at holistically, in terms of Ophthalmology.

Questions from Members to the Deputy Chief Executive and Head of Commissioning (Adult and Community Services) included;

·        If savings more than 4% were achieved through the review of voluntary organisation funding were re-invested, which organisations would have priority for additional funds?

·        The reasons for withdrawal of funding from YBPSS and York Women’s Counselling Service.

·        What would happen if the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (VOYCCG) reinstated funding for YBPSS

Members were informed that if savings above 4% were achieved, that dementia and carer services would most likely receive increased funding as it was felt that these services had been under resourced to date.

In response to a question about the possible reinstatement of funding to voluntary organisations, such as YBPSS, when budgetary control was handed over to VOYCCG; it was reported that the VOYCCG would revisit the organisation’s business case, but would be expecting broader levels of partnership working.

Some Members felt that consultation between NHS North Yorkshire and York and the voluntary organisations that had been identified for funding cuts had not been transparent. They also asked if the findings of the review would be transferred over to the new Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group.

The Deputy Chief Executive responded that NHS North Yorkshire and York Board Reports were made available to the public, and members of the public had often attended these meetings.

Some Members stated that there was a growing demand for the use of services provided by voluntary organisations, but that they understood that public money needed to be used in an efficient manner. They felt that this could only be done by NHS North Yorkshire and York and voluntary organisations working in partnership.