Meeting Date 13 January 2022

Key Decisions and Actions

Given the extraordinary pressure that the health and care system has been under, it was decided to suspend normal business for the Central Lancashire Partnership Board January meeting and take the opportunity to have a more informal discussion and focus on the pressures partners were facing, and how as partners we could provide support to each other. Members provided updates from their organisations including primary care, community care, regulated care, mental health, urgent and emergency care, ambulance services, county and district councils and the voluntary sector.

Key points to note included;

· Continued workforce pressures due to the impact of Covid related absence were being experienced across all sectors.

· Primary Care Hubs were being set up across Central Lancashire, with a target date of 1st February.

· 20 Pharmacies were implementing the pharmacy scheme, a move towards a pharmacy first approach.

· Admission avoidance work had begun in relation to hypertension.

· Mandatory Covid 19 vaccination had resulted in workforce loss in the care sector.

· Optimal utilisation of Directory of Services in Central Lancashire was to be explored through the Urgent & Emergency Care System Delivery Board.

· Temporary staffing to bolster resilience in the regulated care sector had been sourced through existing NHS frameworks.

· Optimisation of the mental health assessment unit was being reviewed to avoid undue pressure and long waits for mental health intervention in emergency departments.

· Street triage providing mental health support was being increased.

· Surge capacity including the Nightingale facility was due to be ready to accept patients in the week commencing 24th January.

· A significant increase had been experienced in category one and two calls to ambulance services.

· There had been a positive increase in the number of ‘see and treat’ cases by ambulance responders.

· District Councils reported an increase in requests for non-medical support in the community.

· A project to support the most vulnerable residents within the community through the winter months, was underway.

· Continued financial, workforce absence and Covid pressures experienced within the VCSE sector through loss of income, higher costs of utilities and funding challenges and sickness resulting in reduced or ceased activity.

The importance of capturing learning from the pandemic was noted, particularly in relation to sustainability and future planning around what was needed in the system and this work would commence through the CLP core team. It was agreed that it would be useful to develop a model to identify what was needed in the system, taking in account for example, pathways, discharge planning, capacity bed base and this would be discussed further with the CCG Chief Officer, the Partnership Director and the CLP Independent Chair.

The Board acknowledged the hard work being undertaken across Central Lancashire to provide services and support residents during these pressures.

The CCG Director of Quality and Performance Provided an update on the formation of the Integrated Care Boards, noting that a delay had occurred on a national level due to the legislative process required for implementation of the new organisations. This delay would impact a number of areas in relation to the close down operation for the Clinical Commissioning Groups. There were many technicalities of the transfer still to be confirmed, and CCG staff were working to understand and prepare for these. The most significant risk remained within the workforce, and possible impact on quoracy for the Governing Body since many staff had been preparing for transition at the end of March. The readiness to operate guidance was expected to be released in the week commencing 17th January.

Matters for Escalation (and where to) N/A

Completed and Signed off by Marie Burnham Central Lancashire Partnership Independent Chair