Agenda item

·         Geoff Little, Chief Executive Bury Council will provide an update on the One Commissioning Organisation

·         Kath Wynne Jones, Chris O’Gorman and Julie Gonda will provide an update on the Locality Care Organisation

Presentations are attached.

·         One Commissioning Organisation

Geoff Little, Chief Executive Bury Council and Tony Bruce, Director of Transformation attended the meeting to provide members with an update in respect of the development of the One Commissioning Organisation.  The presentation contained information in respect of the development of the Local Care Organisation (LCO), the One Commissioning Organisation (OCO) and also work that is underway with the public and communities in relation to Neighbourhood working.

The Chief Executive reported that the establishment of the OCO is necessary to close the financial gap of £25 million, improve outcomes and re-balance from a system that all too often results in late intervention in hospitals and residential care to early intervention in communities.  GM Devolution is a once in a generation opportunity to do this.  £19 million pounds of transformation monies have been made available to investment in transformation projects within the Borough.

The main objective of the proposed changes is to empower people to     remain well for longer, make informed choices and create a different model of services for Bury people. 

Ultimately and over time the Bury “One Commissioning Organisation” will encompass all strategic commissioning from the Council and CCG and other public services where possible.  The Chief Executive reported that by 1st October 2019 the Strategic Commissioning Board, health and social care will commence work.  The OCO staffing function (health and social care) will be fully operational by the 1st April 2020.

Those present were invited to ask questions and the following issues were raised.

Responding to a Member’s question the Chief Executive reported that the majority of the 19 million pounds of GM transformation monies will have been spent within the Locality Care Organisation, transforming services and developing new services.  Very little monies have been spent on organisational structures.  The closer working arrangements across both the CCG and the Council including the appointment of joint posts for the positions of Chief Finance Officer, Chief Accountable Officer and Head of Communications will reduce costs and bureaucracy.

Members asked for assurance in respect of how the development of these organisations will assist those most vulnerable in society whom rely and depend on these services and how these organisations link in with the development of the anti-poverty strategy.  Responding, the Chief Executive reported that the anti-poverty strategy will at a population level, help people to secure economic growth, better quality of life.  The LCO via the integrated Neighbourhood teams will result in integrated service provision and improve the quality of services for residents in the Borough.

The Chief Executive reported that health outcomes need to improve in the Borough, this cannot be done in isolation.  Schools, further education colleges and higher education institutes are vital partners in this process.  Improvements to the education and skills of the Borough’s residents will ultimately lead to better health outcomes and reduce costs across the public sector.

With regards to the establishment of the Strategic Commissioning Board, the Chief Executive reported that the Board will still be accountable to the Council’s Cabinet.  There will be no loss of democracy/accountability, the new arrangements will help to increase the effectiveness of both of these organisations.  The Board will primarily focus initially on health and social care issues and will consider key strategic joint issues, while at the same time looking at some of the other wider determinants of health, air quality, housing, parks and leisure etc.  The Strategic Commissioning Board will be subject to scrutiny by the Council’s two scrutiny committees.

It was agreed:

Geoff Little, Chief Executive Bury Council and Tony Bruce, Director of Transformation be thanked for their attendance.

·         Locality Care Organisation

Julie Gonda, Interim Executive Director Communities and Wellbeing and Chris O’Gorman, Independent Chair LCO attended the meeting to update members on the work of the Locality Care Organisation.  The presentation had been forwarded to members in advance of the meeting and included information in respect of:

·         Delivering transformational change for six priority areas: Integrated neighbourhood teams; The intermediate tier; End of life care; Community stroke/neurorehabilitation; The rapid response service; Urgent care and care home support

·         Overseeing the transfer of community services from Pennine Care Foundation Trust to Northern Care Alliance

·         Supporting the developing children’s health and social care transformation programmes

·         Developing the transformation programmes for other services not yet transformed across partners

·         Building relationships and collaboration across partners

·         Develop an infrastructure for April 2020 onwards

Those present were invited to ask questions and the following issues were raised.

Members sought assurances that following these transformational changes all the affected organisations would remain financially sustainable.  The LCO Chair reported that savings would be generated from the Acute Sector and invested into Primary care to provide support and care closer to home.  Where appropriate, investment will be agreed based on a cost benefit analysis, it is envisaged that in some circumstances it may take two to three years to generate savings.

With regards to recruitment to the new organisation, the LCO Independent Chair reported that Integrated Neighbourhood Teams will be staffed predominately by the existing workforce.  Recruitment to the senior posts for the intermediate tier work stream has also commenced.  A further recruitment exercise including, re-branding with a range of jobs under the umbrella of transformation, began week commencing 24^th June 2019. 

 It was agreed:

Julie Gonda, Interim Executive Director Communities and Wellbeing Chris O’Gorman, Independent Chair LCO be thanked for their update.