Agenda item

As noted in the attached report, this item will be provided in the form of a presentation. Cassie Williams, Assistant Director of Primary Care Quality and Development, will update the Panel in relation to Haringey Clinical Commissioning Group’s work in relation to their statutory responsibility to support quality improvement in General Practice.

Cassie Williams, Assistant Director of Primary Care Quality and Development, provided an update in relation to Haringey CCG’s work concerning their statutory responsibility to support quality improvement in General Practice.

Ms Williams commenced her presentation by focusing on the progress that had been made regarding the new practice in Tottenham Hale. The following points were noted:

-       A temporary site had been commissioned in response to a large deficit of primary care in Tottenham Hale.

-       A three year contract had been agreed with Lawrence House, a local practice, to provide primary care.

-       The temporary site had been made available for three years and fitted out by Lee Valley Estates, the developer for Hale Village.

-       It was intended that the Welbourne Centre would become the new permanent site at the end of the three year period.  

In response to questions, Ms Williams explained the temporary site was due to open shortly. It was noted the opening date had been put back due to technical problems. The panel was assured regular updates would be provided on Council and CCG websites to ensure patients / the public were kept informed. Moving forwards, it was agreed an update on progress, with input from Healthwatch Haringey, should be prioritised as part of the Panel’s future work programme for March 2017.

In terms of Estates and Technology Transformation Funding, the Panel was asked to note that there was a £900m fund available over three years for primary care premises across England. The Panel was informed that recent bids from Haringey CCG aimed to address future capacity challenges in priority areas across the borough. It was noted that the advancements Haringey CCG planned to initiate were subject to successful bids (submitted in June, notification of outcome in August 2016). Information was considered in relation to both Haringey’s estates and technology bids and a wide range of issues were discussed, including:  

-       Priority areas for estates development, including current and future shortfall in capacity across Tottenham Hale, Green Lanes, Wood Green/Noel Park, and Northumberland Park.

-       Primary Care Estates, including priorities to create new or extend/redevelop current primary care premises and priorities that would create space to improve integration with other services, enable general practice to provide a wider range of services reducing unplanned admissions, and support hub working.

-       The aims and objectives of the North Central London Primary Care Strategy.   

Ms Williams concluded her presentation by describing changes to the way primary care would be commissioned from April 2017. The Panel was informed that in 2014, NHS England invited CCGs to enter into a new relationship where they took on additional shared responsibility for how local general practice was commissioned. It was noted that this provided opportunities for greater consistency between primary and other healthcare, to meet local need more effectively. Ms Williams advised Haringey CCG jointly commissioned (level 2) general practice with NHS England and had been invited to consider taking on level 3, delegated commissioning. The impact of taking on delegated commissioning were considered, including:

-       Commissioning more joined up across all of healthcare

-       Budget responsibilities

-       Greater freedom to produce locally aligned incentive schemes

-       Contract management of practices

The Panel was informed there were a number of issues to address, including governance issues across North Central London, conflicts of interest and financial risk, and that CCG Member Practices would vote on how to proceed at the end of August 2016.      

AGREED:

(a)  That the Primary Care Update, focusing on premises and technology, be noted.

(b)  That an update on the Tottenham Hale Medical Practice, with input from Haringey CCG and Healthwatch Haringey,  be prioritised as part of the Panel’s future work programme for March 2017.