Agenda item

The Committee considered a joint report of the Director of Integration, North Durham Clinical Commissioning Group, Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group and Durham County Council and the Director of Commissioning Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Group that gave an update on progress relating to NHS community contract procurement (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Director of Commissioning reported that the partners had developed an Accountable Care Network (ACN) to bring together health and social care and voluntary organisations to achieve improved health and wellbeing for the people of County Durham.  She highlighted the key aims of the ACN, details of the procurement exercise and the engagement exercises carried out.  It was envisaged that services would continue to be delivered in the current locations and should the provider change staff would TUPE over.

Councillor Temple referred to the governance structure proposed within the report in respect of the re-procurement process and noted the input of the County Council’s Cabinet and CCG Governing Bodies into the Integration Board. However, in noting the value of the services being procured across County Durham under the process as being around £44m, Councillor Temple questioned the potential interface between the Integration Board and the AWH Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Director of Commissioning emphasised that should the re-procurement process result in any substantial developments or significant variations in service, the partner organisations represented within the Integration Board would still have a statutory responsibility to consult/engage with Overview and Scrutiny.

In referencing the timelines for the procurement process within the report, the POSO advised that the report included a proposed recommendation that regular updates on the procurement process be brought back to the Committee.

Resolved:

(i)            That the rationale for the planned procurement of adult community services be noted.

(ii)          That the engagement and development work carried out to date to inform the new service model be noted.

(iii)         That the intended governance structure for health and social care services be noted.

(iv)         That the specific governance arrangements that have been put in place to oversee this project including risk management be noted.

(v)          That the timelines for the project and to agree to receive regular updates on the procurement process be noted.