Agenda item

(To receive a report from Carol Cottingham (Director of Service Redesign – Lincolnshire STP Delivery Unit) which sets out the key elements of the Neighbourhood Working programme and provides an update of the current status of the programme)

Consideration was given to a report from Carol Cottingham, Director of Service Redesign – Lincolnshire STP Delivery Unit, which set out the key elements of the Neighbourhood Working programme and provided an update of the current status of the programme.

It was explained that the creation of integrated Neighbourhood Care Teams and supporting 'self-care' networks was a flagship programme across Lincolnshire bringing health and care professionals, the third sector, local authority and independent organisations together to empower people and communities to take an active role in their health and wellbeing.

The Board was advised that there were now 8-10 multidisciplinary neighbourhood teams across the county and particularly noted the team in Gainsborough, based at the John Coupland Hospital, as a successful implementation of the model. 

It was anticipated that a huge amount of work would have been undertaken on the infrastructure to enable more than four teams to be established by the end of March 2018.  However, the Board was asked to consider any potential issues which may be faced during the process of bringing team together from very different organisations.  Some of these issues had related to organisational change hence the decision to establish the System Executive Team in order to support staff whilst driving this forward.

Healthwatch Lincolnshire requested that robust measurable outcomes be implemented and it was confirmed that the offer was currently being worked through by CCGs with DTOC and Admissions, two of the key measures, linked to the BCF.  A small group had also been established to develop an outcome framework to agree what each team needed to measure.

The Board was keen to ensure that rural areas were sufficiently captured by neighbourhood teams as that was a key area of service need for these services. 

NHS England had noted that Lincolnshire was ahead of the rest of the country in respect of this area of work.  It was further noted that the STP was fundamentally driven by neighbourhood teams and it was for partners to agree on how the saturation of technology could be enabled to reduce the need for residents to travel great distances to access these services.  A trial to link medical records to enable immediate access to up-to-date information was underway and the results would indicate if this method would improve the service offered to patients.

The Board was assured that mental health was a key element within neighbourhood teams and that the way in which services were to be structured would ensure that the support would be readily available.

The Board asked that a commitment be made to the number of Neighbourhood Teams in place at certain points within the year and it was suggested that the first four teams be in place by the end of June 2017.  This progress would be considered at the meeting of the Board in December.

RESOLVED

1.    That the content of the Programme of Work be noted;

2.    That the current progress and key actions be noted;

3.    That the link between the Neighbourhood Working Programme and the Health and Wellbeing Board be developed and strengthened by regular updates and discussion regarding the programme at future meetings; and

4.    That the Governance Structure outline in place to support this work be noted.