Verbal update by Chief Officer Merton CCG

The Chief Officer of Merton CCG gave a verbal update on the progress of the STP (Sustainability and Transformation Plan). Following publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View (5YFV) in 2015, all regions (or‘footprints’) of the NHS in England are required to publish Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) setting out how they will meet the challenges set out in the 5YFV and deliver high quality, sustainable services for their populations in the years ahead.

-

STPs are intended to be developed through a partnership of NHS commissioners and providers, working with their local authorities. This is a significant change to previous NHS change programmes, which have been commissioner-led.

The South West London STP is currently going through the final stage of drafting. An initial submission was made to NHS England in June 2016, in line with national requirements. The final draft – which will remain an iterative document for discussion with local stakeholders and the public – will be submitted on 21 October2016 and will be more specific on details such as financial modelling.

STPs are a real partnership between commissioners and providers, working with their local authorities. There is a small leadership team:

Kathryn Magson – SRO for STP and Chief Accountable Officer for Richmond CCG

John Goulston – Provider Lead – Chief Executive of Croydon NHS Hospitals Trust

Kath Cawley – STP Programme Director

Ged Curran – Local Authority Lead and Chief Executive of the London Borough of Merton.

The programme has eight clinical working groups, covering different clinical areas, all of which include more than one patient and public representative

The draft STP contains the following:

·         A whole system approach based on collaboration between and across commissioners, providers and local authorities

·         More care delivered outside hospital in community settings

·         An expansion/transformation of primary care

·         Proactive, preventative care based on keeping people well and early intervention

·         Parity of esteem for mental and physical healthcare

·         The need to consider the best configuration of our acute hospitals and of specialised services in south London.

In May 2016 the South West London footprint wrote to over 1000 local organisations to share the emerging thinking and asking for feedback.

The Chair asked for more detail on the collaborative model and engagement with the voluntary sector, when the plan will be ready for public consultation and the reconfiguration of the CCG The Chief Officer replied that

·         The CCG engaged with the voluntary sector all the time on a variety of topics including integrated care and out of hospital services.

·         The restructure of local CCGs will result in The London Boroughs of Merton, Kingston, Richmond and Wandsworth (with Sutton to join in 2018) sharing  one Accountable Officer from 2017, whilst  very senior officers manage local commissioning and local issues. The Accountable Officer will deal with NHS England.

The Chief Executive of Merton MVSC suggested that the voluntary sector could have been involved more in the process to date. The CCG Chief Officer acknowledged that the pace had been tight and said he would take this back to the team.

The Chair asked the Board to note that this different approach to the STP has resulted in more involvement by LBM in issues such as out of hospital services.