Agenda item
NHS Brent Clinical Commissioning Group independent review of patient engagement and equality
In August 2014, CCG Governing Body commissioned an independent review of patient engagement and equality. On 26 November 2014, NHS Brent CCG Governing Body accepted in full the recommendations of the independent review. The report from the independent review made twelve recommendations.
Of particular note to the Health and Wellbeing Board is recommendation 2. This calls for "closer collaboration with Brent Council, in particular the Health and Wellbeing Board, and other local agencies, to strengthen the momentum towards more integrated services and greater emphasis on prevention”.
Minutes:
Sarah Mansuralli (Chief Operating Officer, Brent Clinical Commissioning Group) introduced the report that detailed the findings of the independent review of patient engagement and equality on behalf of the NHS Brent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). She then introduced Dr Angela Coulter, who had led the review, and Frank Donlon who had co-assisted in the review.
Dr Angela Coulter began by stating that Brent CCG had recognised that their patient equality, diversity and engagement (EDEN) strategy was not working as well as it could be and had approached her to undertake an independent review of it. In particular, there was a lack of integration of services and working with partners, whilst a number of arrangements were out of date and there were also concerns around assurance. Dr Angela Coulter explained that the review had taken place over a two month period and she had been impressed by the Brent CCG’s desire to improve, however there were a number of measures that they needed to undertake to achieve this, such as working more closely with the council and making use of proper processes. There were also strict legal requirements that Brent CCG had to follow with regard to engagement. Members heard that the borough’s active and diverse community provided plenty of opportunities for the CCG to engage and to move away from an overly committee focused approach. Dr Angela Coulter advised that the following areas needed to be prioritised to be addressed:
· Insight
· Communications
· Outreach
Dr Angela Coulter advised that examples of where Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBB) were working well were used to help produce the recommendations in the report and these included the London Boroughs (LBs) of Newham and Tower Hamlets. There were also various recommendations with regard to governance arrangements, including public engagement embedded in committees and commissioning from the outset, and clear leadership responsibilities and budget. Dr Angela Coulter advised that the Brent CCG Governing Body had accepted all the recommendations in the review and were in the process of implementing them. Members noted that the report was also available on the Brent CCG website.
Rob Larkman (Chief Officer, Brent, Harrow and Hillingdon Clinical Commissioning Groups) added that there were also some good arrangements already in place in which to build on, such as the patient engagement groups. Sarah Mansuralli commented that Brent CCG was already looking at ways of improving engagement in respect of the Better Care Fund and the Integrated Care Model and it was committed to making progress on the recommendations in the review report.
During discussion, further details were sought as to why LB Newham and LB Tower Hamlets HWBBs worked effectively. It was enquired when the revised EDEN strategy would be implemented and what funding was in place to undertake this, especially in view that there had been a reduction in engagement and consultation because of budget pressures. It was also asked what measures were going to be put in place to increase engagement with young people. In respect of the preferred option C recommended in the report, it was asked what role the HWBB should play to facilitate this.
In reply to the issues raised, Frank Donlon advised that the report expanded further as to why Newham and Tower Hamlet HWBBs were seen to be working effectively and these were examples of best practice. However, he explained that there was no single right way to operate HWBBs, although he stressed the importance of separating the assurance function from the strategy.
Dr Angela Coulter added that Hull was also a good example of an assurance function operating separately from the strategy. She advised that there were some examples of Brent CCG engaging with young people, such as consultation with Brent Youth Parliament, however it was acknowledged that the engagement needed to be more explicit and the recommendation relating to outreach in the review sought to address this. With regard to the HWBB’s role in helping to achieve option C, Dr Angela Coulter advised that it was important for all partner organisations involved to work together and not to have separate discussions.
Sarah Masuralli advised that the EDEN strategy was yet to be updated, however the public would be invited to Implementation Steering Group meetings that would be meeting for the first time in the week commencing 26 January. She emphasised that all recommendations in the review and full agreement of option C had been agreed by Brent CCG Governing Body. Sarah Mansuralli acknowledged that there had been a focus on adults for engagement and that more needed to be done to engage young people too.
Phil Porter (Strategic Director, Adult Social Services) advised that there would be no reduction in the amount of engagement and consultation.
Christine Gilbert (Chief Executive) advised that ways in which Brent CCG and the council would work together in future would be discussed at a Brent Strategic Partnership away day. She explained that both LBs Newham and Tower Hamlets demonstrated examples of strength of partnership going back a number of years and the Borough Plan gave an opportunity for the same to exist in Brent.
Members agreed to the Chair’s suggestion that an update outlining ways of joint working arrangements be presented at the next HWBB meeting on 19 March.
RESOLVED:
(i) that the Brent CCG independent review of patient engagement and equality, and the decision by the Brent CCG Governing Body, be noted; and
(ii) that the development of joint public and patient engagement structures between NHS Brent CCG, Brent Council and Brent HealthWatch be supported.
Supporting documents:
- 4- Patient Engagement Brent CCG HWB Covering Report, item 5. PDF 97 KB
- 4- Appendix 1 Brent CCG PPE independent review report, item 5. PDF 1 MB