Agenda item

DISSOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL'S PARTNERSHIP WITH NORTHUMBRIA HEALTHCARE

Dissolution of the Council’s partnership with Northumbria Healthcare 

 

To provide information about the planning taking place for adult social care and public health services affected by the decision of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to terminate the partnership between the Trust and the Council which has been in place since 2011, and about the proposed future model for these services. 

 

The report and the comments of the Committee will be presented to Cabinet at their meeting on 3 August 2021.? 

 

Minutes:

Members received information and a presentation about the planning taking place for adult social care and public health services affected by the decision of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust to terminate the partnership between the Trust and the Council which had been in place since 2011, and about the proposed future model for these services. 

 

The Chair informed the Committee that the dissolution of the Partnership item was a pre-scrutiny item and the reports would be considered by the Cabinet on 3 August 2021.  It was noted that members of all the Council’s Scrutiny Committees had been invited to attend as it was felt that this matter raised issues which were within the terms of reference of each of the Scrutiny Committees.

 

Daljit Lally, Chief Executive, and Cath McEvoy-Carr, Executive Director of Adult Social Care and Children’s Services, introduced the report and presentation.  Daljit Lally outlined the history behind the arrangements which had been in place for approximately 20 years.  A review of the arrangements had been undertaken during 2020/2021 and it had become clear that it would not be possible to overcome the significant differences between the two organisations and the agreement would end in September 2021.  It was stressed that the dissolution of the Partnership was not the outcome that the Council had sought on initiating the review.  The differences between the two organisations included HR issues such as terms and conditions, policies and procedures; and cultural, governance and accountability arrangements.  There were no concerns over the delivery of services or safety and security of care provided.  An expanded partnership model, Northumberland Care Services Together (CaST) reporting to both organisations had been proposed in 2020 but was not supported by the Northumbria Trust.  The Trust had indicated that it may continue to host as an employer to adult social care staff, however, legal advice to the Council was that this would not be lawful.

 

Cath McEvoy-Carr highlighted the new service models for supporting adults with long-term care and support needs.  The following services were included within the current Partnership arrangement and revised arrangements were being put in place:-

 

·            Adult Social Care Services

·            Hospital Discharge and Reablement Service

·            NHS Continuing Health Care

·            Learning Disability Community Nurses

·            Nursing Staff in directly Provided Care Services

·            The Joint Equipment Loan Service

·            The Integrated Wellbeing Service

·            The 0-19 Public Health Service

 

Members were strongly of the opinion that they wished to understand more clearly the reasons why the Northumbria Trust had decided to bring the Partnership to an end.  The Chair stressed that the meeting was being held to discuss the new arrangements being put in place going forward and not the reasons why the Trust had decided to withdraw.  There were also concerns about the potential practical and financial impact of the changes and reassurances sought that the transferring staff would not be disadvantaged.    Members were informed that the first priority was to ensure that all the services were unaffected by the changes.  There would be some additional costs but the figure was not known yet.  There would also be no detriment to any member of staff although some individual issues around TUPE were to be resolved and discussions in this regard were ongoing.  This was not a cost saving exercise.  It was added that the Council would now have the opportunity to work more closely with other organisations such as CNTW and Northumberland Communities Together to further enhance the current provisions to support vulnerable residents.

 

The Chief Executive stressed that nothing could be done about the Northumbria Trust’s decision but that the Council now had endless opportunities to re-focus on and deliver localised community based services and services would be provided by the same people.  The services had been well provided over the last 15 years and would continue to be delivered to Northumberland residents.

 

RESOLVED that

 

(1)    the report be received and

 

(2)    that the Cabinet be informed that the Committee supported the recommendations contained in the report and hoped that the changes would support the advancement of social care and drive further improvement for the residents of Northumberland.

 

(3)    an update be provided in early 2022 along with complete and detailed financial information to allow Members to fully understand all the implications arising from the changes.

 

Supporting documents: