Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Integrated Care Board (ICB) which provided an overview of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) ICB 5-Year Plan (5YP). A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 7’, is filed with these minutes.

The Committee welcomed to the meeting for this item Sarah Prema, Chief Strategy Officer, and Amit Sammi, both of the Integrated Care Board.

Arising from discussions the following points were noted:

(i)           In response to a question from the Chairman as to what made the LLR ICB 5-Year Plan different to Plans in other parts of the country, it was explained that whilst the core pledges were relevant to most areas, the delivery of the Plan would be adapted according to the different areas of LLR. For example, cancer screening would be carried out in a different way in Rutland compared to Leicester City.

(ii)         A member observed that that the LLR ICB 5-Year Plan made no reference to cross border provision and neither did the Plans of the areas that shared borders with Leicestershire and Rutland. In response reassurance was given by the ICB that work was taking place in this regard and meetings between representatives of the LLR health system and representatives of bordering health systems did take place. One of the key issues was the interoperability of IT systems which required further work to make them compatible.

(iii)        Members welcomed that Pledge 13 in the LLR ICB 5-Year Plan was to improve workforce retention, reduce agency usage and grow the ICB’s own workforce. The ICB also had a People Plan which contained a range of indicators for monitoring staffing levels and agency use. A specific report on workforce retention and recruitment across the LLR Health and Care System was to come to a future Committee meeting.

(iv)       From October 2022 to April 2023 the number of people waiting for elective care decreased by 7,118 to 133,514. Members raised concerns  that although the number of appointments available was increasing, demand was also increasing. In response to a request for more detail about the types of procedures patients were waiting for, and concerns about absenteeism it was agreed that a report covering these issues would be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

(v)         In response to a suggestion from a member that the ICB should arrange for external efficiency reviews to take place, it was explained that external agencies did come into the NHS and carry out reviews, and NHS England also undertook scrutiny.

(vi)       Reassurance was given around the good partnership working that was taking place across the system and the ICB confirmed that they were satisfied that all the necessary partners were involved. For example, the mental health partnership included representatives from Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Primary Care, and Public Health.

(vii)      In response to concerns raised about ICB finances, the deficits in each year and how much health services had been affected by inflation, it was agreed that a report on the ICB Medium Term Financial Strategy, which was about to be finalised, would be brought to a future meeting of the Committee.

(viii)    At the previous Committee meeting, as part of a UHL reconfiguration agenda item, it had been noted that the seven community hospitals in Leicestershire were not fully used and UHL were exploring how to increase usage. The ICB was in support of this work and intended to make community hospitals the hubs of communities. The NHS strategy was to deliver as many services as possible locally, however there were times where this was not possible and therefore larger hospitals had to be built which would deal with patients from a larger area.

(ix)       In response to concerns raised about a lack of reference in the LLR ICB 5-Year Plan to children’s mental health, the ICB confirmed that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services were a priority for them and would be part of the 5-year Plan.

RESOLVED:

(a)        That the contents of the LLR ICB 5-Year Plan be noted;

(b)        That officers be requested to provide reports for future meetings regarding the elective care waiting list, the ICB Medium Term Financial Strategy, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).