Agenda and minutes

To receive a report on the appointment of Substitute Members.

Any Member of the Board who is unable to attend the meeting

may appoint a substitute member. The Contact Officer

must be notified prior to the commencement of the meeting.

Pursuant to the Council’s constitution the appointment of the following substitute members was reported:-

Rachel Nicholson for Wendy Burke (Director of Public Health)

Steve Hood for Birju Bartoli (Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust)

Judy Scott for Julia Charlton (Healthwatch North Tyneside)

Michelle Adams for Dawn McNally (Age UK North Tyneside)

Charis Pollard for Patrick Garner (Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust)

Voting Members of the Board are invited to declare any

registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters

appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest. They

are also invited to disclose any dispensation in relation to any

registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been

granted in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Non voting members are invited to declare any conflicts of

interest in matters appearing on the agenda and the nature of

that interest.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at

the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer

before leaving the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest or dispensations reported.

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 23 March 2023.

Resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 23 March 2023 be confirmed and signed by the Chair.

To sign off the Better Care Fund Plan 2023-2025.

The Board met to consider the Better Care Fund Plan for 2023-25. The Better Care Fund (BCF) was a government initiative to improve the integration of health and care services, with an emphasis on keeping people well outside of hospital and facilitating discharge from hospital. The BCF created a pooled fund of £35.332m managed jointly by the Authority and the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB). The fund supported community based social care services, including reablement, immediate response home care, CareCall, and loan equipment/adaptations.

There were two government policy objectives for the BCF for 2023-25 which remain unchanged, to:

a)    enable people to stay well, safe and independent at home for longer and; and

b)    provide the right care in the right place at the right time.

These objectives also formed two of the three national conditions of the fund for 2023-25 with the third condition being the development of a jointly agreed plan between local health and social care commissioners, signed off by the Health & Wellbeing Board.

The government had also set four metrics to support the national conditions relating to:

a)    the effectiveness of reablement;

b)    permanent admissions of older people to residential care;

c)     unplanned hospitalisations due to chronic ambulatory care sensitive conditions; and

d)    discharge to usual place of residence.

A new metric was to be introduced for 2023-25 around emergency admissions for people aged 65 and over.

The Board considered a BCF End of Year Report for 2022/23 which set out details of current performance against these metrics, set ambitions for future performance and explained how the services funded through the BCF work alongside other services had impacted the metrics. It was noted that within North Tyneside the four national conditions for 2022/23 had been met. However, three of the four targets for the national metrics had not been met. The Board examined the reasons for this which was attributed to national trends in increasing demands for services and staff shortages.

The Board were also presented with the proposed BCF Plan for 2023/25. The proposals were in line with the place-based strategy developed by the Future Care Programme Board, which had representation from the Authority, the ICB, local NHS foundation trusts, the GP federation, primary care networks, Healthwatch, the Council for Voluntary Service, the Carers Forum, and the  Community and Health Care Forum.

Resolved that (1) the Better Care Fund End of Year Template for 2022/23 be approved;

(2) the Better Care Fund Plan for 2023-25 be approved, and

(3) the Director of Services for Adults, in consultation with the Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board, be authorised to approve any further revisions to the submission on behalf of the Board, before the deadline for submission to NHS England on 28 June 2023.