Issue - meetings

VISION AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

 

 

Meeting: 17/03/2011 - Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Reviews) (Item 7)

7 TRANSFORMING COMMUNITY SERVICES pdf icon PDF 59 KB

The group will consider making recommendations to Plymouth Provider Services on the content of its integrated business plan.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members of the panel heard from Clive Turner, Chief Executive of Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) who provided the panel with information on the development of PCH Social Enterprise. It was reported that -

 

  1. the starting point and aim for PCH was to transform services rather then just transferring them. The social enterprise allowed the freedom and flexibility to do so along with increased capital and revenue funding;

 
  1. PCH board and executive were in place early, allowing for the new arrangements to be fully embedded when the stock transfer took place;

 
  1. in order to maintain focus a set of promises for the first 100 days were made to tenants. The promises allowed Plymouth community homes to communicate a clear difference between the city council housing department and the new provider;

 
  1. tenants were included from the very beginning.  The involvement of tenants was key to redesigning service areas, tenant involvement groups continued to report to the board and PCH’s branding was designed by tenants;

 
  1. innovative engagement activities allowed the PCH to enter into dialogue with groups they found hard to reach. Such activities included working with the Eden Project in Ham Woods and work with Devonport Music Zone had helped reach young people and families;

 
  1. the majority of staff who transferred from the council into PCH were happy to transfer. There was a core group who emphasised strong positives about PCH. Management engaged in back to the floor days and continued to provide fortnightly updates to staff;

 
  1. communication of information to the front line was also key. It was essential that staff felt able to raise concerns;

 
  1. although the transfer allowed some funding options to be realised there was also a five year efficiency programme. In order to achieve efficiencies there was a large investment in information technology and mobile working;

 
  1. there was an emphasis on cultural change in PCH, the new social enterprise would not have succeeded if old ways of working had continued.  PCH had focused on minimising cynicism of the transformation by focusing on benefits,  all staff were given customer service training;

 
  1. the board had also carried out a training programme which resulted in a knowledgeable board which understood the business and governance that surrounded it. The board continued to attend regular training events.

 

 

 

In response to questions from the panel it was reported that –

 

  1. the board consisted of four independent members, three tenant and leaseholder members and four councillors with a traditional executive beneath this;

 
  1. PCH could have been had a greater focus on customer services earlier and a restructure should have happened earlier;

 
  1. staff had been reassured around working arrangements and many were now transferring to PCH terms and conditions;

 
  1. PCH had a “strap-line” which was referred to in all of the organisations dealings “Work for Plymouth, strengthen communities and improve our homes” this made PCH unique.

 

Having considered the relevant elements of the Plymouth Provider Services (PPS) business plan members of the group questioned NHS Plymouth representatives. It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7

Meeting: 07/01/2011 - Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Item 79)

79 STRATEGY pdf icon PDF 132 KB

The panel will consider the Plymouth Provider Services, Integrated Business Plan strategic objectives.

Minutes:

In response to questions from members of the panel it was reported that –

 

  1. the business plan was not an ‘off the shelf’ model, the plan was developed with Plymouth as its highest priority, the plan also provided an opportunity to review the provision of community health services across the Plymouth local authority boundaries and on the Derriford Hospital footprint;

 
  1. there was a significant amount of work to be completed on the proposed governance arrangements for the new provider services and Plymouth Provider Services would welcome the input of the panel;

 
  1. there was a single mention of three of the Plymouth citywide priorities within the document. There had not been adequate time in the plans development to consider fully the citywide priorities;

 
  1. integration was key to the plan, the major risk to successful integration of services was technology and information sharing. Partners had a wealth of information which could be shared and there was a risk that poor information sharing would lead to duplication and impact negatively on outcomes;

 
  1. the management of change would be handled carefully.  Senior managers would show effective leadership working alongside members of staff. The visibility of senior managers would show that management would listen and work with staff on how Plymouth Provider Services could develop. The approach would allow staff who have been with the NHS for a number of years to contribute their ideas which was integral to the development of the Social Enterprise;

 
  1. the strategy section of the Integrated Business Plan had been reformatted several times, it was accepted that the section could be reviewed for consistency;

 
  1. Plymouth Provider Services had been in discussions around social enterprise and cooperatives with other agencies such as Devon Doctors and Your Health (Kingston). It was found that each social enterprise was unique although there was learning which could be shared;

 
  1. work was still ongoing on how national policies would impact the transformation of services, in particular provider services were still waiting to find the level of registration fees the Care Quality Commission would be charging.