Agenda, decisions and minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found here. Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

Members were requested to intimate any declarations of interest.

The Committee resolved:-

to note that no declarations of interest were intimated at this time for items on today’s agenda.

The Chair intimated that there were no items of exempt business

The Committee resolved:-

to note that that there were no items of exempt business.

The Committee had before it the minute of the previous meeting.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

The Committee had before it the Business Planner as prepared by the Chief Finance Officer.

The Committee heard that with reference to Item 6 (Review of relevant Audit Scotland Reports), the NHS Scotland Audit Report would be presented to the next committee meeting. It was also advised that Digital Infrastructure would be presented to the Integration Joint Board along with the Transformation Report.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)    to transfer Item 5 (Review of Terms of Reference) to the Integration Joint Board,

(ii)  to delay Item 7 (Board Assurance & Escalation Framework) and Item 10 (PCIP Evaluation Framework) to the February 2020 meeting of the Committee, and

(iii) to otherwise note the content of the Business Planner.

The Committee had before it a report presented by the Chief Officer. The report followed from the NHS Scotland publication,  “NHS workforce planning – part 2 - The clinical workforce in general practice”, as attached, and  highlighted the significant challenges to increasing the number of people working in primary care and Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership’s (ACHSCP) response to these.

The report recommended:

that the Committee:-

(1)  note the significant challenges to increasing the primary care workforce, and

(2)  instruct the Chief Officer to bring back a fuller report on the mitigating actions in light of the work being undertaken to reconsider the Primary Care Improvement Plan (PCIP) and implement the Workforce Plan.

The Committee were presented a summary of the report which highlighted that the report was not exclusive to General Practitioners and that amended tax rules together with transformation had introduced challenges to maintaining existing staff.

The Committee heard of various measures being taken within the partnership to transform service delivery and maximise workforce availability. These included skill transfer and modernisation together with a recruitment and retention campaign for staff together with re-advertising the ‘Know Who To Turn To’ public information.

The Committee resolved:-

To approve the recommendations.

The Committee had before it the report presented by the Chief Internal Auditor which provided the outcome of the audit of the Non-Residential Charging Policy as directed in the 2018/2019 Audit Plan for Aberdeen City Council.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee review, discuss and comment on the issues raised within this report.

The Committee were presented with a summary of the findings which were intended to provide assurance.

The Committee heard that whilst there had been some historical minor price increases, these latest increases had been the first in a number of years. The effect on demand for services had been minimal.

The Committee were advised that it was intended to provide further assurance on the subject with an Audit Plan Report during 2021.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)    to approve the recommendation, and

(ii)  to note that a further Internal Audit Report would be presented in 2020, within a 12 month period.

The Committee had before it a report presented by the Chief Internal Auditor which provided the outcome of the audit of Integration Joint Board (IJB) Directions as included in the 2018/19 IJB Internal Audit Plan.

The report recommended:

that the Committee review, discuss and comment on the issues raised within this report.

The Committee heard that this report would also be presented to the Aberdeen City Council Audit, Risk and Scrutiny Committee. A summary presentation indicated that whilst some Directions were clear, others lacked clarity and that there had been positive response to the audit recommendations.

The Committee were advised that the Directions process was still relatively new and that the audit had been most helpful to enhance already developing processes including creation of a Directions Planner.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)    to approve the recommendation, and

(ii)  to note the creation of a Directions Planner and instruct the Chief Officer to present this to the Committee on 25 February 2020.

The Committee had before it a report presented by the Chief Finance Officer which included amendments to the Integration Joint Board’s (IJB) Financial Regulations.

The report recommended:-

that the Committee approve the revised Financial Regulations, as at Appendix A.

The Committee were presented with a summary of the revisions and any impact in consequence.

The Committee resolved:-

to approve the recommendation.

The Committee had before it a report presented by the Chief Officer which included the latest draft of the Performance Dashboard linked to the Integration Joint Board (IJB) Strategic Plan.

The report recommended:

that the Committee

a)    Review the draft Performance Dashboard,

b)    Provide verbal feedback and comment to the Lead Strategy and Performance Manager to inform further development of the Dashboard, and

c)    Instruct the Lead Strategy and Performance Manager on the format and

frequency of the committee’s future performance reporting requirements

and how this might align to performance information reported to the

Clinical and Care Governance Committee.

The Committee were presented with a summary of the report and received a full demonstration of the Performance Dashboard in its current format.

The Committee heard that the Landing page and Spine Charts could be presented in print format however further exploration would require digital use only and accordingly members would be granted access to the Performance Dashboard to enable delivery of their assurance role.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)    to approve the recommendations,

(ii)  that officers provide the Committee with full access to the Performance Dashboard,

(iii) to provide positive appreciation of the work undertaken to develop the Performance Dashboard, and

(iv) to instruct officers to present the Landing Page and Spine Charts of the Performance Dashboard as a Standing Item on the Committee agenda

The Committee had before it a report presented by the Chief Officer which included a high-level overview of the full transformation programme, a detailed evaluation of the Link Working Service in Aberdeen, and brought to the attention of the committee the first formal published report produced by the partnership, “Patient’s Perspectives of the INCA Service”.

The report recommended:

that the Committee note the information provided in the report.

The Committee were presented with an overview of the report and were reminded that the Integration Joint Board (IJB) had included 5 new programmes to the Transformation Programme.

The Committee heard that the report provided a very helpful review with a lot of information which included real challenges and causes for concern which were considered under risks.

The Committee received a presentation on the Aberdeen Links Service which indicated that a review had been undertaken of the service which had been operating for 2 years and had received funding for a further 2 years.

The Committee were interested to learn of this service’s wider impact within the Community Planning environment and that whilst this had been identified and approved as a ‘scale-up project’, were keen that partners’ contributions and opinions be explored.

The Committee resolved:-

(i)            to approve the recommendation, and

(ii)          to instruct the Chief Officer to obtain an understanding from Community Planning partners on their contributions to ensure a collective approach is maintained.

The Chair provided Members with an opportunity to request additional sources of assurance for items on today’s agenda, and thereafter asked the Committee to confirm it had received reasonable assurance to fulfil its duties as outlined within its Terms of Reference.

The Committee resolved:-

to confirm that they had received sufficient assurance from the reports presented.

-       JOHN TOMLINSON, Chairperson