Agenda item

Purpose: The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (ICB) to provide an update on activities and commissioning plans.

Sarah Webster (GP, Joint Chair BOB Integrated Cardiac Delivery Network Manager and lead for CVD. Chair Berkshire West Long Term Conditions Programme Board) presented the update from the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB). 

During the presentation the following key points were raised:

·       £2,600,000 had been allocated to Berkshire West to reduce inequalities over the next two years. Public Health teams were collaborating with Primary Care Networks and the Voluntary Sector to develop a community outreach model at a very local level. This would initially focus on enhanced health checks and reducing cardiovascular disease. They were also considering prevention as a programme of work following the discussions at the Committee.

·       It was noted that urgent and emergency care was extremely busy due to respiratory illnesses related to heat and pollen prevalence. Royal Berkshire Hospital had their busiest day ever in Accident and Emergency on 12 June 2023.

·       The national Access Recovery Plan had been published and the BOB ICB were working with practitioners locally to be clear what it meant for them. This was to ensure patients could access GP’s more easily through improved telephony, urgent appointments, routine appointments and focus on additional roles at GP practices. More work was needed to communicate new staffing models with communities.

·       Virtual Wards were a remote service to help patients managed their health and care at home. It had been very successful in avoiding or reducing the length of hospital stays. This was of huge benefit for patients. This was planned to be extended from 108 to 120 beds this financial year. Work was ongoing to improve the links between virtual wards and adult social care services to ensure transition for patients moving between the services was seamless.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

·       It was confirmed that work was underway to meet same day and urgent need with the urgent care centre and the accident and emergency departments. Primary care was also exceptionally busy and so the BOB ICB were working through how best to manage those pressures.

·       The core offering they were planning to use the inequalities funding for was to reach communities to do blood pressure checks and the broader NHS health check. They might add on other services depending on local need such as social prescribing for isolated communities or perinatal support in other communities if the data was showing that would be more beneficial there. The supplementary offers were being discussed with the local authority to tailor the offer to local need. This would be discussed at the West Berkshire Integration Board with key partners and stakeholders to influence the next stages. It was confirmed that the service specification would be aligned with the work of colleagues across Berkshire West so that when the specification and finances were agreed they would be ready to mobilise the service.

·       It was confirmed that pharmacies prescribing antibiotics would work within clinical guidelines due to the risk around overuse of antibiotics. This would alleviate pressure on Primary Care.

·       Virtual Wards were around remote monitoring of patients. There were also initial conversations with adult social care around exploring how technology could be used to keep people well at home and in helping people avoid going into residential care settings. A programme of work for this was being explored. Telehealth and telecare was being prescribed by adult social care to help to keep people safe.

·       It was confirmed that the routine GP appointment target was for two weeks but that there were variations between practices. The BOB ICB were working with practices individually to understand what they needed to meet that target.

·       There was concern raised by a Member that in their local area there was a perception that there was no sign of the new staffing model, waiting times were longer than two weeks and they could only see a GP. Blood tests were also not available at the local Practice.

Action: Sarah Webster to look into availability of additional role appointments in the Burghfield and Mortimer area and the current waiting times to see a practitioner at that specific practice. 

·       Members asked if increased funding would be given to Pharmacies to meet the increased demand in alleviating pressure on Primary Care and if Pharmaceutical Services had the capacity to meet that demand. It was advised additional funding had been announced but that it was early days in determining the detail of the provision at a community level. An update would be provided at a future Committee meeting. In terms of concerns about specific local provision, the Health and Wellbeing Board was responsible for determining if there was a significant gap in provision due to the closure of pharmacies locally and that it would continue to be reviewed.