Issue - meetings

11.       

12.       

13.       

14.       

14.1.      The Board considered a report providing a summary of the Better Care Fund (BCF) requirements for 2019/20, summary of the East Sussex plans and arrangements for the Section 75 Pooled Budget.

14.2.      The Board asked whether, once the cost inflation of health and social care was taken into account, the figures for BCF funding for 19/20 was higher than 18/19.

14.3.      Keith Hinkley explained that the national funding formula for the baseline BCF funding allocation are adjusted for inflation, although in some service areas costs will have inflated above the previous funding amounts. It is also important to remember the funding from the BCF is targeted in the areas that will have the greatest effect on financial and health outcomes. Furthermore, it is a pooled budget required nationally but is one aspect of a far broader agreement between health and care services locally to invest resources together.

14.4.      The Board asked whether an investment of £135,000 was sufficient for the High Intensity User Service given their cost to the system.

14.5.      Keith Hinkley confirmed that this is one specific project and all elements of the BCF are in effect targeted at patients with complex and multiple needs, as was pooled funding more broadly, as they are now the core business of the health and social care system.

14.6.      The Board asked whether the difference in urban and rural need is measured.

14.7.      Keith Hinkley said demand and available resources are modelled across health and social care in East Sussex. There is no simple answer to whether demand is greater in urban or rural areas, however, because the modelling is needs and demand-led, rather than locality, and services in urban and rural have different costs depending on whether the rural or urban area is more or less deprived, e.g., there is greater demand for mental health care in Hastings than Lewes. It is required in the Long Term Plan, however, that commissioning is organised around populations at a locality-level, and there are also specific actions required around reducing health inequalities.

14.8.      The Board RESOLVED to:

1) Note the requirements for 2019/20 Better Care Fund

2) Approve the East Sussex Better Care Fund Plans for 2019/2020 and their alignment with the East Sussex response to the NHS Long Term Plan

3) Note the plan for a single Section 75 Pooled Budget to be in place by 15th December, in line with BCF planning requirements

A report providing the Health and Wellbeing Board with an update on the Better Care Fund and setting out the plan for how Better Care Fund funding will be used

37.1     The Board considered a report by the Director of Adult Social Care and Health that provided an update on the Better Care Fund and set out the plan for how Better Care Fund funding will be used.

37.2     RESOLVED:

1) to note that the approved Better Care Fund submission is consistent with the approach set out through the East Sussex Better Together Programme

2) to agree to receive future updates on health and social care transformation through reports on the East Sussex Better Together programme which will include, when appropriate, details about the Better Care Fund.