Decision status: For Determination
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Fiona Wise, Executive Lead, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) Integrated Care System (ICS), submitted a paper entitled “The Future Arrangements for NHS Commissioning in your area” that sought views on the future arrangements for NHS commissioning in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West.
The engagement period had begun to gather feedback on proposals about ways of working to support changes to NHS commissioning within the BOB ICS and would run until midnight on 1 December 2019. Views were sought on the following two new ways of working:
Engagement was being carried out before the production of any Case for Change document was produced and was not part of any process the service was required to do; the intention was to have a dialogue to inform the Case for Change document by finding out what was really important to local partners. Views were being sought on the following three proposals for change:
In addition, NHS England were proposing that some commissioning services that they currently held, and that used to be commissioned locally, should be taken back at local level and commissioned by the CCG, for example, primary care services such as pharmacy services and ophthalmology. This was due to the bigger framework that would result locally from the proposed changes and would also include some specialised services. In addition, there was a requirement to reduce costs by 20% with the aim being to make reductions at a strategic level so that more funding could be allocated at local level.
There was a desire for local decision making and to give more responsibility to partners to do the best for the local population; the key to this would be the Integrated Care Partnership. Decisions were also being taken countrywide with a general expectation to reduce the number of CCGs (and to align them with ICS footprints so that there is typically one CCG per ICS) and the costs of running them, although a merger of the CCGs in the local area would not take place any earlier than 2021. However, there was a requirement to move to a shared financial control model by April 2020 and there had been a commitment by all those involved to set out what this shared financial control might be by Christmas 2019; a Case for Change document would not be published until this had been made clear.
The Committee discussed the proposals set out in the engagement document and a number of points and comments were made including the following:
Finally, the Committee agreed that the views and comments detailed above should be put together by the Chair and the Lead Councillor for Health, Wellbeing and Sport and that a response to the engagement document submitted on behalf of the Committee. The Committee noted that the deadline for submission is 1 December 2019.
Resolved – That the views and comments detailed above be put together by the Chair and the Lead Councillor for Health, Wellbeing and Sport and a response to the engagement document submitted on behalf of the Committee.
Publication date: 12/11/2019
Date of decision: 21/10/2019
Decided at meeting: 21/10/2019 - Adult Social Care, Children's Services and Education Committee
Accompanying Documents: