Agenda item

A report to provide an update to the Health & Wellbeing Board on the NHS White Paper entitled Integration and Innovation: Working Together to Improve Health & Social Care for All and the associated plans being put in place in Oldham and Greater Manchester.

The Board considered a report providing an update on the NHS White Paper entitled ‘Integration and Innovation: Working Together to Improve Health and Social Care for All’ and the associated plans being put in place in Oldham and Greater Manchester.

The Board was reminded that, since the publication in February 2021 of the White Paper, colleagues across Greater Manchester (GM) and Oldham had been planning the transition of a Greater Manchester Integrated Care System (GM ICS) on 1^st April 2022.

The Board was advised that an ICS Design Framework had been published by NHSE in June 2021, which had provided further information about the changes.  On 6^th July 2021, the Health and Care Bill for this White Paper had been introduced to Parliament and received its second reading in Parliament on the 14^th July 2021. This had outlined that ICS’s would be included in the creation of a statutory Integrated Care Partnership (ICP), which would be a joint committee, and an Integrated Care Board (ICB) (previously referred to as the ICS NHS body/board). The NHS Confederation had produced its own briefing note on the Health and Care Bill here.

It was reported that in GM, under the Devolution Agreement, we had been working as “more than an ICS” for the last five years – with strong working partnerships between health and social care and the voluntary sector, and that the creation of a statutory Integrated Care Partnership and Integrated Care Board would formalise these arrangements. The new statutory nature of an ICS would allow for building on the ambitious and ground-breaking ways we had been working over the last five years and continue to evolve to deliver even better health and care for the people of Grater Manchester.

It was further reported that the GM ICS would operate on three levels to deliver a new five-year vision and plan:

·         Neighbourhood

·         Locality

·         Greater Manchester

The Board was advised that, whilst duties would transfer to ICS’s, it was anticipated that the GM ICS would deliver its functions partly via locality place-based boards and teams within each GM locality, including through neighbourhood structures.

The Board was further advised that a GM Statutory ICS Transition Programme had been established, led by a Board meeting fortnightly, to oversee the transition to the new ICS arrangements. The Board was made up of representatives from all organisations which would become part of the new NHS body, as well as NHS providers and Local Authorities. There were fourteen workstreams, each with a GM system lead. Work was underway to agree the critical path for the next nine months. There was a recognition that GM staff were still managing the COVID-19 response and recovery.

It was reported that the recruitment process of the Chair of the GM ICS had commenced and was due to conclude around the first two weeks of September and the ICS Chief Executive role would commence recruitment early September and conclude at the end of September. The GM Executive Team would take place over the next two to three months. The intention was for the GM ICS, including localities to operate with shadow arrangements ahead of the statutory change on 1^st April 2022.

It was further reported that the Oldham transition arrangements would be managed by a Transition Programme Board on behalf of the CCG Governing Body and would therefore oversee the time-limited ICS change programme.  Its core purpose would be to oversee at least four key work areas that would work in tandem with the GM approach:

·         System/Place-based Governance Accountability and Strategic Planning Functions

·         People and Culture

·         Finance and Use of Resources

·         Provider Collaborative

The Board was advised that, during August, national guidance had been released in respect of the Employment Commitment for those NHS staff impacted by the ICS change. This meant that the majority of Oldham CCG would be covered by an employment commitment to continuity of terms and conditions.  his commitment was designed to provide stability and remove uncertainty during this transition. For those not covered by this commitment, the guidance also detailed the support that these individuals would receive during the HR process to be followed. There was an expectation that all CCG employees would ‘lift and shift’ into the GM ICS on 1^st April 2022, with any remaining/ongoing work to determine exact roles and structures continuing after this date.

A discussion took place in which the challenge and massive impact on Oldham was recognised. The importance of the voluntary sector and partnership arrangement being in place was also recognised.

The accountability to residents of Oldham and the need to recruit talented young people to work in the Borough was also highlighted. The Board was reminded that Oldham was the greenest Borough in Greater Manchester and the importance of integrated working was also recognised.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.