Agenda item

Presented by Wendy Balmain (Place Director) and Lisa Pope (Deputy Place Director), NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB.

Considered

The Humber and North Yorkshire ICB Annual Report for 2022/23.

Lisa Pope gave a brief overview of the report, including highlighting the following:

·       600,000 extra GP appointments have been provided in the last year;

·       Harrogate and District is one of few Trusts which achieved the national standard for seeing urgent and emergency care patients within 4 hours;

·       Cancer pathways completed within 62 days from referral are down by 2.9% although the backlog has improved significantly in the last year.

Members’ discussion on the report covered a number of points including the following:

·       The importance of ensuring that the report is written in plain English.

Members were advised that the report was written in a way discernible to English speakers but it was highlighted that an Easy Read version is also available.

·       The area covered by the ICB seems too large to be able to deliver effectively and its place-based model potentially risks missing out a middle layer of partnership and collaboration with local authorities and the third sector.

·       The report would benefit from more of a focus on prevention and green social prescribing and Members are interested to understand how social prescribers are supporting people where wider issues such as benefits or housing can be at the root of the issue.

The size of coverage of the ICB was acknowledged although teams are locally embedded.  Each primary care network has a social prescriber role in place and where new housing developments arise, it’s also ensured that there is a focus on prevention and social prescribing.  It was agreed that further data would be obtained on what type of work social prescribers are picking up in communities.

·       The location of the Scarborough Community Diagnostic Centre (Eastfield) and concerns regarding accessibility and lack of public transport to the site for all Scarborough residents and those farther afield such as Hunmanby.

The ICB has been unable to secure a site in central Scarborough and so Eastfield was selected due to local deprivation and poor access to preventative care.  Work is underway with council transport colleagues to look at patient access and bus services. 

·       Concerns around the ICB’s governance approach and compliance with handling of Freedom of Information Act requests (FoIs).

The committee were advised that the rules around handling FoIs are strict and clear and this sometimes means that responses are given which won’t involve extrapolation, however the feedback will be taken back to colleagues.

·       Reference was made to the recent Motion to Full Council regarding seeking fairer funding from central government for hospices. The ICB were commended for incorporating end of life care/dying well within their report and the committee would be interested to know how hospices are included in their financial planning.

The Chief Executive of the ICB has met with the Directors of hospices and agreed a funding uplift.  Hospice colleagues are part of the ICB’s community service offer.

·       The ICB were invited to Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Committee to discuss new models of emergency care.

The ICB are happy to attend a future meeting.

·       The committee were concerned to ask about dental services and further commissioning in North Yorkshire, in addition to wanting to understand investment plans for “clawback” funds.

The ICB is supporting existing practices to expand their capacity and also supporting the establishment of new practices.  It was acknowledged that further work needs to be done to meet demand but that work is underway at pace.  It was agreed that information regarding investment of clawback will be explored and reported back.

·       Differences were noted by the committee in terms of accessibility to GP appointments at different practices and the committee was keen to obtain further data breaking down appointments in-person or by telephone by localities, in addition to how many appointments were reactive versus preventative.

It was agreed that information will be obtained on the proportion of telephone versus in-person appointments and it will be identified whether any further data regarding types of consultation is available across areas.

·       Access to mental health care was noted to require improvement.

A deeper dive was offered on this matter as there has been a significant piece of work on this via a mental health collaborative which sits across the ICB and includes TEWV.  The Chair agreed to consider this further at the Mid-Cycle Briefing.

·       Members noted staff turnover and queried whether this was a cause for concern for the ICB.

It was acknowledged that frequent change and several staff consultations in recent years will have been unsettling for some staff but the ICB Executive is aware and keen to recruit and retain talent.

Resolved

That the committee:

(a)   Notes the report provided and obtains further information from the ICB as identified during the discussions; and

(b)   Receives the annual ICB report again in September 2025.