What will be the impact on the development and delivery of the Integrated Care Strategy Joint Delivery Plan of the forthcoming severe cuts in the finances and resources of the MSE ICB? How will partnership working be affected? What will be the effect on the development of partnership working at Alliance, Neighbourhood and local/interest community levels? What can the people and communities of South Woodham Ferrers expect and do to help?
Answer delivered by Anthony ‘Mac’ McKeever, Chief Executive Officer, Mid & South Essex Integrated Care Board:
The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Strategy (2023-2033) was adopted by partners on the 20th March this year and sets out a bold and ambitious long term vision for the Integrated Care System in Mid and South Essex. This work was developed by our Integrated Care Partnership (ICP). The NHS Joint Forward Plan sets out how NHS partners will work together over the next 5 years to help achieve the NHS ambitions. This was developed by the NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB). Both of these documents will be reviewed and refreshed annually, and in the case of the Integrated Care Strategy, each time our upper tier local authorities refresh their own Local Health and Wellbeing Strategies, or produce a new Joint Strategic Needs Assessments. Both pieces of work are designed to adapt and change over time, taking into account our performance and local challenges and opportunities, as and when they arise.
On 24th May this year, I wrote to all partners informing them that Mid and South Essex ICB, and its counterparts across the country, had been asked by NHS England to deliver a significant reduction in their running costs by 2025. This national mandate is to reduce running costs (known as the running cost allowance) by 30 per cent over the next two years. Running costs are costs that are not related to the delivery of front-line patient care. Locally and in line with feedback, the ICB has set about achieving the required reduction in the course of the current financial year of 2023/24. Accordingly, the ICB has now launched a formal consultation with our teams on a proposed structure for ICB, alongside extensive engagement with ICB partners.
The Integrated Care Strategy describes a partnership approach to achieving our ambitions, working together in what we call a ‘Common Endeavour’. It describes a broad and equal partnership of individuals, organisations, and agencies, focusing on prevention, early intervention and providing high-quality, joined-up health and social care services, when and where people need them. From time to time, individual partners will of course face challenges, but the purpose of a partnership approach is to ensure that we can continue to work to achieve our ambitions, giving and taking weight at times of challenge. The ICB remains fully committed to playing a full and active part in our ‘Common Endeavour’ and working together to achieve the ambitions identified in the Integrated Care Strategy.
The ICB, and its local authority partners, have been at the forefront of advancing the ‘subsidiarity’ principle, which asserts that any central authority should have a subsidiary, or secondary role, performing only those tasks which cannot be performed at a more local level. This will not change. Further, we will continue to provide resource, through our Alliances and at a system-level, to work with local communities, as we simply cannot do it without them. The ‘Common Endeavour’ involves us all, both in organisations and agencies and as local residents. We welcome the opportunity of working with the community in South Woodham Ferrers, and I acknowledge the important work of the South Woodham Ferrers Health & Social Care Group, and the work taking place in communities and through groups like it, across mid and south Essex. We thank you for your support.
SWF Health & Social Care Group 