Issue - meetings

The Committee had before it a report by the Chief Finance Officer which presented the Committee with the audited final accounts for 2016/17.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee -

a)            Consider and agree the Integration Joint Board’s Audited Accounts for 2016/17, as attached at appendix A;

b)            Instruct officers to submit the approved audited accounts to NHS Grampian and Aberdeen City Council; and

c)            Instruct the Chief Finance Officer to sign the representation letter, as attached at appendix B.

The Chief Finance Officer explained that terms of reference delegated authority to the APS Committee to approve the IJB annual accounts which members would be requested to do at today’s meeting. He highlighted that the accounts were largely unchanged from the unaudited accounts presented to the Committee on 20 June 2017, but he appended a slight revision to p38 of the accounts which had been inadvertently altered during the version control process.

Thereafter members were advised on the definition and purpose of the Clinical Negligence and Other Risks Indemnity Scheme (CNORIS).

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to agree the Integration Joint Board’s Audited Accounts for 2016/17, as attached at appendix A;

(ii)       to instruct officers to submit the approved audited accounts to NHS Grampian and Aberdeen City Council;

(iii)      to instruct the Chief Finance Officer to sign the representation letter, as attached at appendix B; and

(iv)      to circulate the approved annual accounts to IJB members for information.

The Committee had before it a report by Lorraine McKenna (Business Manager, ACHSCP) which outlined a joint complaints handling procedure (CHP) for the Aberdeen City IJB. The procedure introduced a standardised procedure to handling complaints which complied with Scottish Public Services Ombudsman’s (SPSO) guidance on a model complaints handling procedure.

The report recommended:-

That the Committee –

a)            Approve the Aberdeen City Integration Board’s Complaints Handling Procedure as outlined in appendix A; and

b)            Instruct officers to submit the compliance statement and self-assessment in appendix B to SPSO before the 3rd of July.

Lorraine McKenna advised that IJBs were required to produce a CHP that complied with the SPSO’s guidance on a model complaints handling procedure. She explained that the CHP had set out governance arrangements, administration, timescales and decision making processes and noted that the IJB was required to submit a Compliance Statement and Self-Assessment to the SPSO by 3 July 2017, following which the SPSO would advise on whether further amendments would be needed. Ms McKenna confirmed that the final CHP would be uploaded onto the Partnership’s website for public inspection.

Thereafter there were questions on the scope of the CHP and guidance to service users who may want to complain about services provided by one of the IJB’s partner organisations; how complaints about senior Partnership staff would be handled; the complaints procedure for on the spot resolutions, the responsibility for signing off IJB complaints; and arrangements for the complaints process and performance to be monitored by the Committee.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)        to request further clarity to enable service users to use the appropriate route when complaining about services provided on behalf of the IJB by Aberdeen City Council and NHS Grampian;

(ii)       to request further information on how complaints about senior Partnership officers would be handled;

(iii)      to request that a performance report on IJB complaint handling be presented to the Committee on a bi-annual basis;

(iv)      to instruct officers to seek guidance from the SPSO on protocols for signing off IJB complaints; and

(v)       to instruct the Partnership’s Business Manager to circulate a revised version to Committee members for comment and approval ahead of submission to the SPSO by 3 July 2017.