Agenda item

To receive a presentation on health integration.

Martin Sloan, Assistant Director Adult Social Care Transformation, and Integration provided a presentation on health integration.

During the discussion of this item, the following points were made:

·       Wokingham Integrated Partnership (WIP) was one of the partnerships that fed through to the Wellbeing Board.  The Board had recently signed off a new Wellbeing Strategy which influenced a lot of the partnership’s work.

·       Members were reminded that WIP focused more on Adult Services and that there was a separate Board which focused on Children and young people.

·       Since the last update to the Committee, there were now 5 Primary Care Networks and Voluntary Sector representation had increased.

·       Each year the WIP agreed a work programme for the year in March/April.  It was submitted to NHS England for approval.   This year there had been 6 key priority areas:

Ø  Mental health and social inclusion;

Ø  Deconditioning/rehab/physical activity

Ø  Frailty monitoring;

Ø  Inequality and poverty;

Ø  Social prescription (including data and IT to support integrative work);

Ø  Better Care Fund monitoring and administration.

·       These priorities had fed into 19 projects to support the partnership to integrate.

·       The Integration Board looked at all the schemes in December and determined whether they should be continued, or the funds directed elsewhere.

·       Mental Health and Inclusion -

Ø  Implement MIND service and establish Mental Health Alliance

v the MIND service was now nearly at capacity. 

v Quarterly Mental Health Alliance meetings were now taking place to support the system to work together on mental health, and patients were reporting good outcomes.

Ø  Implement Friendship Alliance Phase 2 (including Look to increase Digital Inclusion for the most vulnerable in the community).  There were 4 key organisations involved in the Friendship Alliance; Involve, Age UK, LINK visiting scheme and Wokingham Volunteer Centre -

v Friendship Month had been a massive success with over 300 residents attending over 30 events, including Friendship Cafes.

v Digital Devices had been issued to over 45 elderly people and their families.  A mid-year review had resulted in a further 25 devices being made available.

·       Deconditioning/rehab/physical activity

Ø  Reablement Review/Implementation

v Members were informed of the Surrey Model, which ensured a greater focus on domiciliary care.

Ø  Moving with confidence – Sport and Leisure staff went into people’s homes to help those who had become deconditioned following the pandemic, to provide a 1-2-1 service to help to get them more active again. 

Ø  Leg Ulcer pilot – working with Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust which had set up group clinics for leg ulcers.  There had been a soft launch in November, and it had officially launched in January.  Initial feedback was very positive.

Ø  Reducing Hospital Pressure with Bed Based Services

v Work had focused on the Oak Wing and there had been an increase in performance.

v Some beds were also being used in Wokingham hospital for reablement.

·       Frailty monitoring –

Ø  Social Work Liaison Implementation-

v Additional social workers had been appointed and assigned to two Primary Care Networks.  A work plan had been developed for their start in March.  There had been delays in recruitment due to the shortage of social workers.

Ø  Inequality and Poverty Analysis and Reporting (Population Health Management approach)

v An analyst was now in post in the Public Health Team who would be supporting the creation of Primary Care Network profiles. 

v Support with the creation of Hong Kong Webinar to support new residents.

·       Social prescription (including data and IT to support integrative work)

Ø  Project Joy-The project had supported 2016 people in the Borough (January 2022), against a target of 1700 (national target for 1% of GP interactions should be Social Prescription).

Ø  Connected Care Review.

Ø  Creating Healthy Communities – This had been delayed by the pandemic.  A workshop would soon be held in one of the Primary Care Networks, but further work would be needed to implement workshops in all of the Primary Care Networks.

Ø  Service User Experience- This had been placed on hold, as the CCG were looking to run a West of Berkshire solution

Ø  Social Prescription - Involve ran a forum for all the non-clinical staff in the Borough to help give a good, shared grounding across health and social care.

Ø  Virtual Group Clinics- 100% of attendees had advised that these had met their expectations and a second cohort was being run in February.

·       Martin Sloan outlined the monitoring arrangements around the Better Care Fund Plan.  Wokingham’s performance was best in Berkshire West and performing well against all national targets.

·       Martin Sloan clarified that where the presentation referred to projects being ‘business as usual’ this meant that it stopped being a project and would be continued as part of the services provided.

·       With regards to the inequality and poverty analysis work, a Member asked what was emerging from this work and how this would be taken forward.  Martin Sloan indicated that it was early days, but profiles would be produced for each of the Primary Care Networks which would highlight priorities for their patients.  He agreed to provide summaries of the non-confidential information.

·       It was confirmed that work was also being carried out to target those who did not access to technology.

·       Martin Sloan explained that the costs of the project were fed back into the Integration Board.  The funding was separate to the Medium-Term Financial Plan.

·       Members asked about lessons learned from Friendship Month and if there were plans to run the initiative again.  Martin Sloan responded that funding was being put into the voluntary sector recurringly so that successful initiatives could continue.

·        A Member question whether Wokingham would still have full control over the allocation of the Better Care Fund with the advent of the BOB ICS.  Martin Sloan indicated that it would be challenging to keep a focus on Wokingham issues.  They had been told that at present the Integration Board would be continuing and would have control of the Better Care Fund.  Wokingham was advocating that it remained a Place Based Partnership and be formally recognised as that.

RESOLVED:  That

1)    The presentation on health integration be noted;

2)    Martin Sloan be thanked for his presentation.