Ruth Harrell (Director of Public Health), Lincoln Sargeant (Director of Public Health, Torbay), and Alison Wilkinson (Associate Director of Transformation, NHS Devon ICB) delivered the ‘Integrated Care Strategy’ to the Board, and highlighted the following points-

a)     The Health and Care Act 2022 had established Integrated Care Boards, along with the requirement to set out a joint committee for Integrated Care Partnership. NHS Devon was the Integrated Care Board, and One Devon was the Integrated Care Partnership;

b)    The Integrated Care System was focussed on integration, population health and tackling health inequalities, shifting away from isolated views of the different components of health and care;  

c)     This Integrated Care Strategy was founded upon the health and wellbeing strategies of each local authority in Devon, and combined with population engagement to identify common regional themes and targets. These were then developed into a broader strategy across One Devon and NHS Devon;

d)    The NHS was mandated to respond to the strategy through the 5 year Joint Forward Plan. The Integrated Care Strategy was not a new plan, but instead a collation of strategies and plans at local level, which were then aligned to the Integrated Care System, focussing on delivery and milestones;

e)     The purpose of the Integrated Care Strategy was to identify and set the overall aims of the system, incorporating the voluntary sector, social care and wider partners that influenced healthcare, beyond just the NHS. This aimed to produce more preventative and patient centred care. Once finalised, this strategy would inform the Joint Local Plan, detailing how the NHS would need to deliver on the strategic aims in partnership with other organisations. This was due to be published by the end of March 2023;

f)      To produce the Integrated Care Strategy, detailed analytical work had been conducted towards the strategic needs of the population, and consultation with local people to understand their health and healthcare priorities;

g)     12 challenges had been identified to be addressed throughout the strategy across Torbay, Plymouth and Devon. While many of these challenges were shared by local authorities, Plymouth was unique in having a statistically younger population, with people dying younger than national average. Plymouth also experienced high levels of deprivation, with 9 of the most deprived 10 GP practice populations in Devon;

h)    The Integrated Care Strategies’ vision was for ‘equal chanced for everyone in Devon to lead long, happy, and health lives’. The strategic aims were to ‘improve outcomes in population health and healthcare’, ‘address inequalities’, ‘improve access, experience and outcomes’, ‘enhance productivity and value for money’, and to ‘help the NHS to support broader social and economic development’;

i)      The deadline for the publication of the final Integrated Care Strategy was 30 June 2023. Specific guidance stated that Health and Wellbeing Boards must be consulted and engage with the development of this strategy, and must submit an opinion before finalisation. The Joint Forward Plan and Integrated Care Strategy would then be combined into the Devon Plan.

In response to questions from the Board, it was reported that-

j)      While the strategy was highly detailed and complex, there had been a very short timeframe in which to draft it. It was recognised that further work and drafts would need to be published;

k)     While all of the targets and goals set out within the strategy were desirable, there were many questions surrounding the practicality of their timeframes and methods for achievement. It was however, key to include them within the strategy to set out the needs, aspirations and desires of the system;

The Board praised the work that had been undertaken and ambitions of the strategy however, recorded significant concerns surrounding the practicality and achievability of many of the ambitions. It was suggested that further work should be undertaken regarding objective prioritisation and timetabling, and that this Board would need greater engagement with the strategy development.

The Board agreed-

1.     To note the report;

2.      To request that a workshop or working group be established for further consultation and engagement with the strategy’s development, before the Board could respond to the recommendations contained within this report.