Agenda item

To consider a report of the Deputy Chief Executive, Stockport Council

The Board will be asked to consider an overview of recent development work with the Local Government Association and activity to refresh the Board’s priorities in light of the evolving health and care landscape.

Officer contact: Jonathan Vali, 0161 474 3201, jonathan.vali@stockport.gov.uk

The Chair submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) summarising recent Board development sessions and setting out proposed priorities for the Board.

The Chair thanked partners for their engagement with the development of the priorities and highlighted the input from other members who may not be present at the meeting but who had been involved in these efforts.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

·         Understanding the Board’s activity in the context of that of other boards and benchmarking against that might be useful.

·         The publication of the 10 year plan had provided reassurance that the Board’s recent development activity was on in accord with the broader direction of travel within the national health and social care economy. The priorities adopted by this Board would also need to be seen within this context and compliment the development of the Greater Manchester 5 year plan.

·         It would be helpful for the Board to be explicit about its priorities and how they were presented and how these were in turn prioritised since there was a sequential nature to these ambitions.

·         Given the challenges of addressing health inequalities and the wider determinants of health it was important to recongise that this was a long term aspiration and would require sustained efforts across a ‘system’that was wider than the health and care economy, again chiming with the new NHS Plan and references to an integrated system. The Board’s Joint Health & Wellbeing Strategy would be a vital tool in seeking to address this key area.

·         The Board had previously sought to engage with the wider economy and partners and that would be a useful exercise to repeat as the Board sought to refresh its Strategy and approach.

·         While the development work of the Board had sought to address the ‘why’ and the ‘what’ of its work, there remained uncertainty about the ‘how’ and what the ‘engine room’ would be to achieve these priorities. Greater clarity was needed on the structures underpinning this Board and the wider economy not least for the Board to be able to better hold those other bodies to account. In this context it was commented that there had been work to reform the architecture supporting Stockport Family and it was planned for this to report back into this Board.

·         Given the continued delay in the social care ‘green paper’, did the Board have sufficient assurance over the functioning of adult social care and support? Was that a function of this Board, or more appropriately that of the Health & Care Integrated Commissioning Board?

·         It was important for this Board to be clear about where the ‘engine rooms’ were in relation to its priorities so that it could hold to account partners for the delivery of those priorities. Particular concern was expressed about where the ‘engine room’ was for the delivery of the Neighbourhood Model.

·         There were a number of proposals being developed that sought to address urgent and emergency pressures and these could usefully be submitted to the Board for consideration. The Board also had a role in ensuring that partners were approaching the challenges to the economy in the most appropriate context, moving away from reactive approaches. The example was that of the ‘Winter Plan’ and whether it would be more effective is there was an all-year approach to resilience of the ‘system’ that took account and reflected the range of pressures that could be anticipated throughout the year.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report on priorities be endorsed and the priorities within be adopted.

(2) That the Chair, on behalf of the Board, be requested to write to the Chairs of relevant partnership boards to:-

·         inform them of the changes to this Board and the adoption of its priorities;

·         seek assurance that those boards were delivering against the wider economy needs in areas relevant to this Board and its priorities;

·         seek details of the priorities of those boards and how this Board might support them in the delivery of those priorities.

(3) That the Director of Public Health be requested to submit a report back to the Board in relation to health inequalities.

(4) That the Directors for Adult Social Care and for Children’s Services be requested to submit a report to a future Board meeting in relation to the new safeguarding arrangements.

(5) That the Chief Operating Officer of Stockport CCG be requested to ensure appropriate involvement of the Board in the development of Stockport’s contribution to the Greater Manchester NHS 5 Year Plan.