Agenda item

To receive a report from the Head of Democratic Services which presents information on the latest position surrounding the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board arrangements and the Leeds Place Based Governance arrangements – Leeds Health & Care Partnership.

The Head of Democratic Services submitted a report which briefed the board on the latest position surrounding the local ICB arrangements, including reference to the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board arrangements and the Leeds Place Based Governance arrangements – Leeds Health & Care Partnership. Following on from an update to the board last year, a watching brief was in place to maintain an overview of the evolving local ICB arrangements.

The following were in attendance for this item: 

·  Councillor Fiona Venner, Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships

·  Councillor Salma Arif, Executive Member for Public Health and Active Lifestyles

·  Victoria Eaton, Director of Public Health

·  Tim Ryley, Place Based Lead for the Leeds Health & Care Partnership

·  Rebecca Charlwood, Chair of the Leeds Committee of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board

The Executive Member for Adult and Children’s Social Care and Health Partnerships briefly reminded the Board of the legislative changes set out in the Health and Care Act 2022 in relation to the establishment of new Integrated Care System (ICS) arrangements. Reference was made to the role of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), which took on the commissioning responsibilities of Clinical Commissioning Groups from 1st July 2022, as well as being tasked with leading the integration of health and care services across their area.  It was highlighted that the existing close partnership working approach had led to West Yorkshire being very well placed to transfer to the new ICS arrangements and that the valuable role played by local Health and Wellbeing Boards had also been particularly acknowledged by the West Yorkshire ICS.

The Place Based Lead for the Leeds Health & Care Partnership and the Chair of the Leeds Committee of the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board also gave a brief introduction and highlighted the following points:

·  As part of the new statutory ICS arrangements, there is a requirement to refresh the West Yorkshire ICS Partnership’s Five Year Strategy by March 2023.  Linked to this, it was noted that the West Yorkshire Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee had received a report on the work being undertaken on the Strategy during its meeting on 8^th September 2022.  It was also noted that the Partnership is working closely with Place-Based Committees and local Health and Wellbeing Boards to ensure that the Strategy is developed collaboratively and to ensure collective ownership across the breadth of the partnership.

·  The Leeds Committee of the West Yorkshire ICB had held its inaugural public meeting on 14^th July 2022 and a further meeting on 22^nd September.  It was confirmed that all membership appointments had now been filled, with details of the membership representation set out within the report.  It was acknowledged that the new arrangements have now led to greater partnership representation from the council and third sector and a distributed leadership model, as well as reinforcing patient and public opinion at the heart of decision making.

·  It was also noted that the new arrangements help reinforce co-operation to locate the best options for service provision as previously the CCG had commissioned and bought services which lead to competition for contracts from the NHS, private and third sectors.

The following areas were also discussed during the Board’s consideration of the report:

·  Review of the West Yorkshire ICS Constitution – the Board was informed that the existing Constitution document would be reviewed by the West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board in the next 12 months.

·  Priority areas over the next 6 months – with the expectation of the Scrutiny Board receiving a further update in March 2023, reference was made to 3 key areas of priority that the Board may wish to reflect on. These included improving access to general practice; addressing winter pressures linked to an ongoing review of the intermediate tier of care; and the commissioning of dentistry linked to the transfer of responsibility from NHS England to local ICBs by April 2023.

·  Tackling health inequalities – the Board was pleased to note that this area of work remains a key priority for the West Yorkshire ICS and is also very much reflected as part of the Healthy Leeds Plan.  It was suggested that it would be helpful to focus on the Healthy Leeds Plan as part of the Scrutiny Board’s next update in March 2023.

·  Managing future resource pressures – with an expectation that resources are likely to become more stretched linked to the existing cost of living crisis, particular importance was placed on ensuring that partners work collaboratively to ensure that resources are maximised effectively.

The Chair thanked everyone for their contributions and reminded Members that a further update is expected as part of the Board’s March 2023 meeting.

RESOLVED – That the contents of the report, along with Members comments, be noted.