The Chair welcomed the members of the Board, officers and those watching the webcast to the meeting. It was noted by the Chair that many working groups had been stood down due to operational pressures so there was a lighter agenda than usual.

Apologies for absence were received from:

Janelle Holmes, Chief Executive Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust who was substituted by David McGovern

Karen Howell, Chief Executive Wirral Community Health and Care Trust who was substituted by Jo Chwalko

Dr Abel Adegoke, Primary Care Council

Karen Prior, Chief Executive Healthwatch Wirral

Members are asked to consider whether they have any relevant interest in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state the nature of the interest.

The Chair asked for members to declare any interests in any items on the agenda. No interests were declared.

To approve the accuracy on the minutes of the meeting held on 21 December 2023.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 December 2023 be agreed.

There were no items on the action log.

The Place Director (Wirral), NHS Cheshire and Merseyside presented this report which set out the latest position on NHS Planning Guidance 2024/25 and the refresh of Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership’s Integrated Care Strategy and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s Joint Forward Plan. It also set out the approach being taken in Wirral by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside with Place partners to refresh the Wirral Health and Care Plan 2023-24. It was reported that on 22 December 2024 the NHS wrote to all integrated Care Boards to say that it would not publish the 2024-25 priorities until the new calendar year and it had not yet been published. It was highlighted that there was a renewed focus on bringing the NHS into financial balance as a whole. 

The Health and Care Partnership were refreshing their strategy and a report was to go to Health and Wellbeing Board and therefore the Joint Forward Plan for NHS organisations was also being refreshed and put against the perspective of All Together Fairer so there was a greater focus on health inequalities. It was reported the Wirral Health and Care Plan for 2023-2024 was going through a process of being updated and did not anticipate much change in planning guidance or local priorities going forward.

Members queried whether the Interim Health and Care Partnership Strategy and the NHS Joint Forward Plan were in the public domain for 2023-2024 and it was clarified that they were on the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside website and the 2024-2025 versions would follow. NHS Planning Guidance was available on NHS England website.

Resolved – That

 • The work underway in Place that will contribute to the refresh of Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership’s Integrated Care Strategy and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside’s Joint Forward Plan be noted

• The approach being taken to update the Wirral Health and Care Plan for the planning year 2024-25 be supported.

• The Wirral Health and Care Plan 2024/25 be received for approval at a future meeting.

The PDF file below may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices.?Please contact julian.eyre@nhs.net  if you would like this document in an accessible format.

The Programme Manager, Wirral Improvement Team presented the report of The Programme Director, Wirral Improvement Team, which presented the performance dashboard for the programmes within the Wirral Place Health and Care Plan. The report aimed to provide the Board with information and assurance on the progress of the Programmes associated with the Wirral Health and Care plan 2023-24. It was noted that the Strategic Transformation Group reviewed the dashboard on a monthly basis however it was stood down in December but circulated for assurance. The overall delivery Red Amber Green (RAG) rating for the Health and Care plan delivery in December was Green, with three programmes rated Amber and the rest rated Green.

Members queried the shortage of medications for ADHD on the Wirral and asked for clarification of the number of people affected and what was being done to alleviate that situation in Wirral. A report was to be brought back regarding the numbers of people with ADHD, the number of people affected by the shortage of medication and the impact of that. It was reported that medicines optimisation teams were working on the supply chain issues and individuals were being dealt with by front line services.

Members were assured that the Neighbourhood Model was intended to be rolled out across the Borough including West Wirral and the trailblazers were working out ways to work with local communities. 

There was a typo at 1.13 which should have stated that the Family Hub has “now been implemented” (instead of “not been implemented”).

Resolved – That this report which provides assurance on the delivery and oversight of the Health and Care plan programmes be noted.

The Chair presented the report of the Head of Transformation and Partnerships, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside which provided an update on the impact of Additional Roles recruited by Primary Care Networks to support increased demand for services. The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme allowed Primary Care Networks to recruit 18 year olds into multidisciplinary teams including podiatrists, clinical pharmacists and also social prescribers. It was reported that the uptake of the roles had been good in Wirral and had improved the primary care given to the people of Wirral and ensured that the Primary Care Team became a wider multidisciplinary team more and allowed GPs to focus on activities they were best placed to deliver.

Members asked what was being done to ensure that Leaders and organisations worked effectively together.

Members discussed whether there was a sustainability plan and whether evidence was needed to sustain that funding. It was explained that the programme was introduced in 2019 with a ringfenced budget that had been protected throughout the period. At this stage, the board was advised to work on the basis that the funding was to continue as its impact has been evidenced across the country. Members stated that there had been a very positive impact on helping to deliver patient care and there was a need to continue to promote GP assistants to the public and provide information about who they were and what their role was and was not. Members discussed the importance of retaining a skilled workforce.

Resolved – That the report be noted.

The Associate Director of Finance (Wirral Place) presented the report which provided an update on the financial position for the Wirral Place health and care system partners as at the end of November 2023. It was reported that at this point Wirral was planning a deficit of £19.4 million and the year to date actual deficit was £33.8million. There were a lot of pressures due to prescribing and continuing healthcare pressures, the impact of industrial action and unfunded inflation.

It was reported that the Pooled Fund was slightly overspent but the Better Care Fund risk share was unlikely to be enacted.

Resolved - That the report and the specific recommendations in relation to the Pooled Budget, listed below, be noted,

•  The forecast reported position for the Pool and the discharge fund as at Month 8 2023/24 be noted.

•  That the shared risk arrangements are limited to the Better Care Fund only, which is reporting a forecast breakeven position be noted.

•  The sign off and approval process and progress of the 2023/24 Section 75 agreement which is scheduled to complete in January 2024 be noted.

The PDF file below may not be suitable to view for people with disabilities, users of assistive technology or mobile phone devices.?Please contact james.barclay1@nhs.net if you would like this document in an accessible format.

The Head of Wirral Improvement Team presented the report of the Chief Executive, Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust which provided information and assurance on the work of the Unscheduled Care Improvement Programme for Wirral. It was reported that progress continued to be made in relation to the five work areas. It was highlighted that those with no criteria to reside which were 108 in November had reduced to 98 in December which put Wirral in first position out of seven areas. This improvement was directly related to the hospital based Wirral Transfer of Care Hub and there was a focus on the development of additional new pathways to care to improve non-elective flows of patients across the sector.

It was reported that in December 2024 Home First discharged 131 patients to therapy plus care 86 patients to therapy only care. 

Members noted the excellent progress in terms of Home First. It was reported that work undertaken in the Care sector had led to no people waiting for care packages in hospital. It was highlighted that there was a need to shift into communities supporting people to keep people out of hospital.

The patient experience was discussed by Members and this was to be referenced in the report to be brought back to WPBPB in March. Members highlighted the waits for patients at the front end and the waits for people in A&E. 

Members asked for clarification of the actions that were being taken to ensure that patients were able to have their voices heard on those projects. There was robust programme management around each workstream and Members were assured that there was patient engagement. It was reported that patient experience feedback from Healthwatch had been used to tweak the Home First programme.

Resolved - That this update be noted.

There were no questions from the public or members and no petitions or statements

The Head of Legal Services introduced this report which presented the future work programme of the Board.

Other items had been suggested during the meeting and under this item, which were:

• Medium Term System capacity plan report in March.
• Population Health Management report was removed.
• An update on ADHD as a future item at a date to be confirmed.

The Place Governance Manual refresh was to come to the next meeting. It was noted that it was originally suggested that the NHS Trust were to Chair the WPBPB next year and the Community Voluntary and Faith Sector (CVFS) would be Vice Chair. It was reported that the NHS Trust were still working through whether they want to change the running order with the CVFS to Chair next year with the Council as Vice Chair and the Council would Chair the year after. The role of the Chair was to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly.

Resolved – That the work programme for the Wirral Place Based

Partnership Board for the remainder of the 2023/24 municipal year be

noted subject to the suggested additions.

There was no other business.

10am on 22 February 2024

10am on 21 March 2024

10am on 9 May 2024

10 am on 22 February 2024

10 am on 21 March 2024

10 am on 9 May 2024