Agenda item

To discuss the Better Care Fund Plans and to note the update.

Ms Rachel Lissauer and Mr Paul Allen presented the report.

The Board commented that:

·      One of the common causes for the admissions for the elderly was a secondary chest infection. The NHS was preparing for a difficult winter period and that places such as Australia and the Far East had seen an increase in influenza during the winter period. The general trend was that what happened in Australia and the Far East would occur in the UK six months later. It was therefore very important to make effort for the public to receive the annual flu vaccination this year.

·      There was a requirement for a fifth coronavirus vaccination for the elderly.

·      Due to the widespread mixing of the public during the Queen's funeral, there was likely to be a large increase in viral infections.

·      The Better Care Fund would be under a lot of strain.

·      There was a large number of inpatient hospital beds which had been taken up due to lack of social care.

·      Hospital discharges had some challenges and some assistance may need to be provided for this.

·      A hub for dementia was required for the East of the borough.

In response to questions, the Board heard that:

·      There had been fewer admission to hospitals, but it may be important to consider the exacerbation of physical health conditions due to social conditions. Most of the hospitalisation was due to medical reasons.

·      There was an entire section on the Better Care Fund plan narrative which talked about addressing equity of access and outcomes and experience and it was an area that had been invested into substantially in addition to the Better Care Fund plan and was focused on the east of the borough - the 20% most deprived. There were a number of different strands of issues that residents faced depending on their stage of life. The kind of themes included things like having the best start in life, improving long term conditions, improving mental well-being. Efforts needed to be made to ensure make sure that the borough continued to build on this as an integrated care board because it was part of the NHS plans’ responsibility to make sure that the borough better served communities that would otherwise be underserved. The Better Care Fund plan played its part in that and some funding from the Better Care Fund would be placed for this. Investing in those groups needed to be done in the right way. Part of the approach was about community empowerment involving the voluntary sector and partner investing in the voluntary sector to be that connection and link between partners. 

·      It was not yet clear how much money would be available next year from the Better Care Fund plan, but it was safe to say that there would be some form of uplift in funding and time could be spent during the remainder of the year planning the use of it wisely.

·      The role within dementia area encouraged organisations to work out what could be done was part of that social model of dementia and aging. Raising awareness and working with the community to help recognise dementia and cognitive impairment would also be a progression in the area.

·      Hospital discharges needed to be more efficient and better organised.

·      There were issues with recruitment and staff capacity. Some partnership working could assist also in those areas.

RESOLVED:

That the presentation be noted.