Agenda item

(To receive a report by Derek Ward (Director of Public Health) on the NHS England consultation on the contract arrangements for Integrated Care Providers)

The Lincolnshire Health and Wellbeing Board were advised that on 3 August 2018, NHS England launched a 12 week consultation on the contracting arrangements for Integrated Car Providers (ICPs).  The consultation documentation detailed how the proposed ICP contract would underpin integration between services, how it differed from existing NHS contracts and how ICPs would fit into the broader commissioning system and which organisations would be able to hold an ICP contract.  It was noted that the deadline for submitting responses to the consultation was 26 October 2018.

The report presented provided a brief overview of the key proposals and potential implications for Lincolnshire.  Members were advised that this consultation gave a quite clear vision of what the health and social care system may look like in the future.  It was noted that integration within the system had been discussed for a long time, and there were currently eight pilot areas which were already looking at how these services could bne integrated.

The Board was guided through the main points of the report and were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised included the following:

·         It was confirmed that the principle was to provide all the care for the population through the one contract in order to prevent silo working and to remove transactional inefficiencies.

·         It was noted that GP's could be employed through this contract, and it was highlighted that the West Midlands had employed 10 GP's.

·         It was commented that 10 years was a long time for a contract, and during that time a population could increase or decrease as well as movement throughout the county, and it was queried whether there would be anything built into the contracts to protect against changes in population.  The Board was advised that money would be able to move around the system as necessary.  In relation to the contract length, it was noted that this was in order to provide motivation for those organisations to invest in preventative care and remove costs further down the line.

·         There was support for the paper, but it was commented that it was important to not allow thinking to be fettered by the way the system was currently set up.

·         It was commented that the consultation questions were not the interesting part, but everything that was in between, and it was suggested that the questions should be answered in a way which gave a more strategic view and influence.

·         It was suggested that Alison Christie and Derek Ward work up a response to the consultation on behalf of the Board, and it was also commented that it would be useful if this response could be circulated electronically for members of the Board to provide their views.  It would be useful if points of view from different organisations could be provided.

RESOLVED

1.    That the implications of the ICP consultation be noted;

2.    That a response to the consultation be produced on behalf of the Board by the Director of Public Health and the Programme Manager and circulated to members for comment.