Issue - meetings

16.1     The Board considered a report providing an update on the East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) financial position and progress with the Strategic Investment Plan (SIP).

16.2     In response to questions from the Board, the following information was provided:

·         One of the key overarching aims of ESBT is for health and social care organisations to work better with districts and borough councils, communities, and local groups. Locality Forums are key to achieving this aim and they will begin operating during October.

·         There are 9 ESBT schemes included in the report that are currently rated amber or red in terms of their performance and risk. There are, however, 36 schemes in total across ESBT and the other 27 schemes remain on track.

·         Some schemes have so far had low referral rates from GPs and other healthcare practitioners. This is being addressed by a communications plan that will raise awareness and confidence amongst clinicians to refer patients to these new schemes.

·         The rate of non-elective admissions in the ESBT area has dropped significantly against national and regional trends. This demonstrates that ESBT schemes designed to keep people out of hospital, such as Health and Social Care Connect (HSCC) and the Crisis Response Teams, are starting to gain traction within the wider health system.

·         There have been challenges to date with independent providers developing the necessary capacity to deliver new ESBT services at the pace that is required, for example, Care Home Plus and Technology Enabled Care Services (TECs). The ESBT Alliance Executive is in the process of  engaging with independent care home providers to establish what capacity the sector has. Further work will then be carried out to support providers and incentivise them to develop the capacity that is needed to deliver Care Home Plus.

·         Some of the challenges facing the ESBT programme are outside of its direct control, such as changes to the National Tariff prices and payment rules, Better Care Fund requirements, and the requirement to meet control totals over a wider geographic area, i.e., across the Sussex and East Surrey Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP).

16.3     The Board RESOLVED to:

1) note the East Sussex Better Together financial position and progress with the Strategic Investment Plan; and

2) request monthly updates on the progress of ESBT by email

– Report by Director of Adult Social Care and Health

5.1       The Board considered a report on the East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) for 2017/18.

5.2       In response to questions from the Board, the following answers were provided:

• The SIP is a commissioning plan for the commissioning organisations within ESBT that allocate health and care resources in the ESBT area, i.e., East Sussex County Council and the two Clinical Commissioning Groups. Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) are healthcare providers so are part of the broader ESBT Alliance Agreement, but are not part of the commissioning budget, i.e., the SIP.
• The strength of the ESBT Alliance Agreement partnership is that there is a collective commitment to manage the resources available and work to a common outcomes framework. It is therefore robust and clear enough about how it reaches collective agreements to avoid being adversely effected by the new performance metrics in the Department of Health’s changes to the Better Care Fund (BCF) planning guidance.

5.3       The Board resolved to note the report.

10.1     The Board considered a report providing a summary of the ESBT Strategic Investment Plan (SIP) for 2017/18.

10.2     Julia Rudrum explained that it was important that the Board fulfils its role of providing oversight of the SIP during the 2017/18 financial year. The Chair said that the Board will need to monitor the progress of the SIP in some detail at future meetings.

10.3     Dr Martin Writer said that the commencement of the SIP in April 2017 indicated the success of the ESBT programme to date. Going forward the ESBT Alliance will be delivering more effective care as a partnership with a combined set of values, and the partners need to be optimistic and pragmatic about the task ahead.

10.4     The Board RESOLVED to note the report.