Agenda item
Winter Planning Update
Minutes:
Julie Dublin, Senior Transformation Manager, presented the last item, which outlined the Winter Plan for 2024 to 2025. Members were informed that NHS England published their winter letter to the Integrated Care Boards (ICB) Chairs and Chief executives on 16 September this year, with the aim to improve the Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) recovery by:
- Improving A&E performance with 78% of patients being admitted, transferred or discharged within 4 hours by March 2025.
- Improving Category 2 ambulance response times relative to 2023/24, to an average of 30 minutes across 2024/25.
- Reducing 12 hour waits from time of arrival in Emergency Departments.
Ms Dublin noted the key areas considered in preparing residents for winter including; the vaccination campaign, discharging patients back into the community with health colleagues and social care services, and also assessing the High Impact Interventions for UEC. It was noted that there is no additional winter funding made available from NHS England for this year.
Details of the Physical Capacity Funding allocation of £30 million for General and Acute beds and £723K for out of hospital support. The money will be allocated across a number of schemes to support admission avoidance, discharge and reducing hospital length of stay. The schemes, currently in draft will be submitted to both the Tower Hamlets together board and Urgent Care Working group for sign off. Details of the ICB’s Triple Lock process and the High Interventions to improve areas within same day emergency care, frailty, intermediate care and inpatient flow.
Members heard details of how both the NHS and social care are working together over winter. These schemes incorporate both regular business arrangements within the borough, commissioned services and newly drafted schemes, which will be provided through the Physical Capacity funding and the Adult Social Care discharge grant. These included:
Proactive population health management:
- Flu/COVID vaccination campaigns.
- The LBTH Education Offer for advice and support for families with young children.
- Tower Hamlets Connect
- Idea store / Mosques.
- Transfer of Care Hub.
- Homelessness Support
- Community Spaces
Optimising hospital flow through Acute, Mental Health and Community trust sites;
- Additional ‘Step Down’ provision .
- Improving current discharge levels.
Provision and access of alternative pathways to reduce UEC footfall and attendance:
- Rapid Response service.
- Mental Health Crisis Response/Crisis Café/Crisis line.
- Advance care planning.
- Pharmacies.
Further to questions from the sub-committee Juliet Alilionwu and Julie Dublin;
· Clarified that the High Intensity User Service, is provided by East London Foundation Trust’s Mental Health team. The service assists residents with complex concerns, including mental health, social care needs and substance misuse issues.
· Acknowledged that the details in the presentation were amended to a more accessible format and sent to Members after publication of the agenda. The Winter scheme is still in development and the final version will be brought back to sub-committee once finalised.
· Confirmed that some of the schemes have yet to receive funding. Providers will be notified regarding commencement, after a meeting next week.
The Health and Adults Sub-Committee RESOLVED;
1. That the final version of the Winter Schemes will be forwarded by Officers to the sub-committee for review.
2. That the presentation be noted.
Supporting documents: