Agenda item

To consider the Sustainability and Transformation Plan for the Frimley area following its publication, and to understand next steps regarding engagement and implementation.

A representative from North East Hampshire and Farnham CCG attended to provided Members with an overview of the Frimley Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) and its delivery (see Item 8 in the Minute Book). 

Members received a presentation which provided the background, challenges and workstreams of the Frimley STP. The key work-streams and financial gaps were highlighted to Members, which required the NHS and partners to think differently and innovatively to meet these challenges. 

In response to questions, Members heard:

·      That work was beginning with local communities to better engage them on the STP and what it means for patients and the public.  In North East Hampshire and Farnham, local delivery is being supported through eighty community ambassadors who are local patient and public representatives, of which 50 were currently active, who support us in our programmes of engagement and would be involved with the implementation of the workstreams.  Thought was being given on how to get as many people actively and appropriately involved in the workstreams as possible, to give local people a voice in the Plan.

·      The patient was at the centre of STP plans and this needed to be better communicated; the desire of the Plan was to get services right first time for patients, recognising that resources are limited and should be used in the most effective way possible.

·      Currently the STP was in the ‘process’ phase, agreeing what the workstreams look like in practice and how they will be delivered.

·      There remained a significant amount of variation across the Frimley area for how pathways worked; part of the aim of the STP was to bring organisations together to share what works, both in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.

·      Prevention was a key workstream of the Frimley STP, recognising that the cost of prevention was in most cases significantly less than treatment.  An example of diabetes care was shared, which highlighted different approaches to this long-term condition.

·      Local resilience work was taking place locally with GPs, balancing the demands of the public for access to primary care at a time that suits them, with the finances and limited staff resource of GP practices.  Greater levels of collaboration were being sought in the Frimley area in order to meet a move towards a 12-hours a day, 7 days a week offering to local people.

·      The issues seen nationally with A&E attendances had impacted Frimley but they had managed to return to an above-95% statistic for those waiting less than four hours to be treated or admitted.

·      The Government had recognised that STPs would require financial investment upfront.  Currently, not all the investment lines had been clarified, although they were expected to be released incrementally. 

·      Partnership work between STPs was ongoing and Frimley was a close partner of the Hampshire and IOW footprint given their overlapping geographies, with representatives from each attending executive group meetings of the two Plans.

The Chairman noted that at the January 2017 meeting Members had discussed the possibility after the election of the HASC taking forward a specific working group on the STPs. 

RESOLVED

That Members:

1.  Add the ongoing scrutiny of the Frimley STP to the work programme.

2.  Receive a further update on progress against the STP’s work streams in six months’ time.