Decision details

Louise Taylor, Executive Director of Adult Services and Health and Wellbeing,

Lancashire County Council outlined the funding arrangements as detailed in the report, to support additional health and social care winter capacity in Lancashire to the Board.

The need to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic had seen the suspension of the Advancing Integration governance arrangements in Lancashire.  To enable decisions to be made on the use of funding allocation of the Winter Pressures grant and the additional COVID Grant monies the Out of Hospital cell of the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Command and Control Structure has been used as it contains the required level and breadth of NHS and social care representation.  That body has agreed the plan for the use of the above grant monies with a continued emphasis on increasing capacity in core community/intermediate care services and whilst continuing to support people to stay or return to their own home.

There was a potential need for a further £4.3m for continuation of the externally commissioned services for a further six months.  This is to be considered further.

The Board was reminded that it was the accountable body for the Better Care Fund and the Winter Fund, both of which come as an annual grant.  Each year the Council and Clinical Commissioning Groups determine how the winter funds will be spent and, as expected at this time of year how it can be stepped up, as well as increasing capacity to ensure meeting the extra demand which, this year, has equally had to take account of the ongoing pernicious nature of the COVID pandemic and its impact on Lancashire's vulnerable population.

The Better Care Fund, is spent collaboratively with the Clinical Commissioning Groups and this tends to be on services that are referred to as intermediate care – services that allow the Authority to keep people safe and supported at home with care provision if that is necessary, or to step people down if they have been in hospital and feel that they have an ongoing need when they are discharged.

In addition the Council has also allocated some of its COVID grant that has been received from Government to supplement the arrangements to ensure there is adequate capacity at this extremely critical period.

Resolved:  That the Health and Wellbeing Board recognised the validity of the decision making process, under current arrangements, and supported the spending plan as outlined in the report.