Agenda item

Proposed Public Health Commissioning Intentions for 2016/17

Minutes:

JanetteWilliamson UPDATED

Councillor Janette Williamson Cabinet Member - Public Health, said:

 

We are now seeing the benefits of public health being part of Wirral Council in terms of focusing our work on prevention and providing people with the tools and resources to improve their health and wellbeing.

 

It has never been more important to work in partnership in commissioning services across the health and social care sector. We will continue to draw on public health skills across the board as part of our commitment to help people lead healthier lives.”

 

Councillor Janette Williamson introduced a comprehensive report that highlighted the importance of the role the Council had in commissioning services.  It had statutory duties across three “domains” of Public Health, as described in the Public Health Outcomes Framework.  These duties covered the following components:

 

·  Health improvement – including reducing lifestyle related ill-health and inequalities in health, and addressing the underlying determinants of health;

·  Health protection – ensuring that comprehensive plans are in place across the local authority, NHS and other agencies to respond to infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies; and

·  Health service improvement - providing NHS Commissioners, including Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), with expert advice and support to improve and evaluate the quality and efficiency of health services.

 

The Cabinet was made aware that the Public Health grant awarded to the Council had been designed to deliver the responsibilities set out in the Public Health Outcomes Framework.  It required that the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) and the Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy should both inform and influence the commissioning plans of the Council and so influence how the Public Health grant was attributed.

 

Those responsibilities were delivered through a combination of external contracts, internal investment, small grants and running costs. The report detailed the Council’s commissioning intentions that were to be delivered through a number of external contracts which were categorised in the report shown in Table 1. 

 

The report sought the Cabinet’s agreement to progress Public Health’s proposed commissioning plans for 2016/17.  The commissioning proposals in the report linked to the delivery of the Wirral Plan’s 2020 pledges for Healthy Lives and to the Council’s Public Health statutory responsibilities.

 

Appended to the report at Appendix 1 was - Public Health Contracts by Provider 2016/17 (including Commissioning Intentions).

 

The Cabinet noted that all Public Health contracts were subject to on-going evaluation as part of a clearly defined commissioning cycle approach (in line with the Commissioning Framework developed as part of the Council’s Transformation Programme). This methodology ensured that Public Health services (and contracts) were consistently and routinely tested against a range of criteria.

 

Councillor Janette Williamson reported, in particular, that the Council had been mandated to commission reproductive and sexual health services, these included:

 

·  preventative action to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV;

·  treatment services for STIs (but not HIV);

·  contraception and reproductive health promotion and provision;

·  specialist counselling for sexual health.

 

The four reproductive and sexual health services were currently commissioned as follows:

 

·  Wirral NHS Community Trust provided an integrated Reproductive and

·  Sexual Health service, sub-contracting some elements to Wirral University

·  Teaching Hospital NHS Trust and Wirral Brook; Terence Higgins Trust provided specialist outreach, prevention and promotion

·  to high risk groups in order to prevent the spread of HIV in Wirral;

·  Sahir House provided non-clinical support for people living with HIV/AIDS;

·  Community Pharmacies provided emergency hormonal contraception.

 

The Cabinet noted that it was necessary to re-commission the services highlighted in order to comply with the Public Contract Regulations and Wirral Council Contract Procedure rules, as a result of the full term conclusion of applicable contracts. Work was currently progressing to develop a whole system approach to commissioning an effective and efficient sexual health service

 

Councillor Janette Williamson informed that the Council was making investments in financially challenging circumstances.  She referred to the Government’s long awaited Obesity Strategy and informed that she was disappointed that it did not include any actions in respect of irresponsible advertising targeted at children or restrictions on junk food promotions and outlets.  Councillor Williamson also informed that she was pleased that Wirral was focusing on obesity like the rest of the Country.

 

Councillor Phil Davies informed that it was good to see the commissioning of £20,671,175 and echoed Councillor Williamson’s comments on obesity.  He referred to the disappointing £2.1m in year cut in funding which had made planning impossible.  Councillor Davies hoped that this would not happen again and informed that it was necessary to lobby the Government, making this plea.

 

Councillor Phil Davies referred to the report as positive.  He considered the areas highlighted were important and went a long way to addressing the Council’s health inequalities pledge.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)  the contents of the report and the schedule of commissioning be noted and the contracting activities set out in Table 2 (Summary of Commissioning Plans 2016/17) and Appendix 1 to the report be agreed;

 

(2)  a provision to meet contracts totalling £20,671,175 (£2,953,025 per annum) for an initial five year contract (2017-22) with an option of two one-year extensions for the delivery of reproductive and sexual health services be agreed; and

 

(3)  a provision to meet contracts totalling £2,202,185 (£440,437) per annum) for an initial three year contract (2017-20) with the option of two one-year extensions for the delivery of information and advice services be agreed.

Supporting documents: