Birmingham Community Health and Wellbeing Consortium Members Meeting 24 th November 2011

Transcription

1 Birmingham Community Health and Wellbeing Consortium Members Meeting 24 th November 2011 Welcome Mohammed Al-Rahim, Chairperson of the Consortium Steering Task Group Mohammed Al-Rahim welcomed everyone to the meeting. He explained that a lot of work had been done behind the scenes to promote the consortium. We have also been scoping the changes happening in health so that the consortium can be as flexible as possible to take advantage of any opportunities that arise. Introduction Tracey O Brien, BVSC Director of Policy and Programmes: Most of the organisations that completed the expression of interest are contract ready. Six needed additional support and we will be working with these organisations to get them contract ready. Membership is currently closed. It is important to build on what we already have in place. The four PCTs have formed the Birmingham and Solihull PCT cluster acting as executive while the four PCTs still legally have responsibility for health in their areas. There are now only four Clinical Commissioning Groups. We do not want to raise expectations; there is no guarantee that the consortium will win contracts. There is a lot of talk about the importance of the voluntary sector in health, but contracts will go out to competitive tenders. To illustrate the point, Tracey gave an example of a social enterprise (a public sector mutual) that lost out on a large contract to a majority-owned Virgin Healthcare private health company. Bidders were asked to provide a 10 million performance bond. It has been speculated that the mutual was unable to provide the full bond. We will be looking at the best ways to market the consortium. We want your thoughts on how to do it. We should not restrict ourselves to health contracts. There may be opportunities within social care, and with personal budget holders too. Page 1 of 7

2 Tracey added that it might be sometime before contracts are available. The risk is that size of the voluntary sector may shrink during the waiting period. Mohammed Al-Rahim agreed that the consortium should take the widest possible approach for the benefit of members. Public Health Update Kiran Kenth, Public Health Improvement Specialist, Birmingham Public Health NHS Cluster Although each PCT still exists and retains its statutory responsibilities, all PCTs sit under the Birmingham and Solihull NHS Cluster. Denise McLellan is the Chief Executive of the cluster. The cluster is responsible for transitioning Public Health and supporting the development of Clinical Commissioning Groups. Focus will still be on addressing health inequalities. The voluntary sector is seen as key to this agenda. Public Health Kiran was unable to say what the commissioning intentions will be in the future, but meetings are taking place this week. This will include the outcomes framewrok. We will know by the beginning of next year what the commissioning intentions will be. Public Health functions have been merged into one body known as Birmingham Public Health. Birmingham Public Health has four main areas: Local PH intelligence Health Protection PH commissioning support building relationships with CCGs. Work is being done on the PH offer to CCGs Health inequalities It is expected that there will be some small procurements in the New Year. The consortium must have a watching brief to take advantage of these. The consortium should not be narrowly focused we have to look as widely as possible for opportunities; do not dismiss any opportunity. Payments Grant days are long gone. There will be an emphasis on contract and performance management. Some contracts will certainly be Payment by Results. Page 2 of 7

3 Mohammed Al-Rahim thanked Kiran Kenth for her contribution and the ongoing mentoring and support she is offering the consortium. Delegate Comment: The bond that the voluntary sector can provide is the richness and diversity of our services the added value. While there should be competitive tendering, commissioners should also recognise the added value the sector can offer. We need to put a measure to our added value. Tracey O Brien gave an example of the cost savings that can be achieved with falls prevention. At a recent Strategic Shift to Prevention event, it was said that an installed handrail can lead to many thousands of pounds saving in the long-term. We will are looking to develop a methodology and provide training on how we can measure the savings to state money. Personalisation By 2013 all eligible individuals will hold a personal budget. The Local Authority is still working out eligibility criteria. It is expected that some people are likely to see a reduction in personal budgets. Brokering may have been put on the back burner. What is clear is that the days of block contracts with voluntary sector providers are gone; we have to market ourselves to mini-commissioners i.e. personal budget holders. To do that, organisations will have to have a clear understanding of their unit costs. Financial planning will be very important. The challenge will be how we provide services to non-personal budget holders too. Consortium Development Georgina Watts, BVSC Development Worker Georgina gave an overview of BVSC s free sector development service. The first stage is a needs assessment based on BVSC s organisational health check. The health check helps you and BVSC identify where your development needs are. Once you have completed the health check, BVSC will contact you to arrange a meeting to discuss your development in more detail. We can help with legal status/business models, fundraising strategies, business planning, governance. Page 3 of 7

4 The support we offer is: User-led it s enabling, engendering skills across the sector. Goals focussed looks at the strategic direction of the organisation and how to get there Since April 2011, we have supported 65 organisations, providing a range of on-going support. Georgina gave a couple of examples of organisations supported so far: Provided one organisation with on-going development support, including becoming a social enterprise. Brokered links between a user group and key public sector stakeholders One delegate, who had completed the health check, described it as an incredibly worthwhile exercise. Top training and development priorities Delegates were asked for their training and development priorities. The following areas were raised: Social Return on Investment (SROI) Training to help organisation put a monetary and social value to their work. Whilst some organisations are already conducting SROI calculations, a number of members felt that training would be useful. It was suggested that the consortium should consider conducting an SROI calculation on its activities, and thought that New Economics Foundation might be interested in helping with the calculation. Tracey agreed that we should look into this at a later date. Personalisation Looking at calculating unit costs, cash flow and financial planning. Marketing and Public Relations Including utilising social media. Marketing and Promoting the Consortium Jason Meredith, BVSC Partnership Development Worker It is important that we promote what the consortium can offer because we face a new set of commissioners and have new relationships to make. The relationships many of us have built up over several years may be lost. Page 4 of 7

5 To help us promote the consortium and its services we will produce a prospectus. We want something that is attractive, professional looking and shows commissioners the full range of services available through the consortium. Our initial thought is that the prospectus should take the form of a folder with inserts, so if things change it will be easy and cost-effective to change. The services we can offer commissioners should be aligned to care pathways. We will have discussions with commissioners / health professionals so that the prospectus reflects health priorities, but we would like members input too. Jason Meredith asked the delegates: What information should we include? What would commissioners / health professionals find valuable? Delegate comments: Visual demo of what people do using social media Our outcomes Be clear about our intent i.e. what do we want to do? Promote the impact of our work on individuals and communities Service user involvement Use different networks that we all work with Be clear about our unique selling points, notably that we are of and from the community How do we work creatively and innovatively e.g, through successful partnerships Publicise what good practice exists, including cross-sector partnership working How we support each other Scream and shout about our successes Utilise grassroots organisations Get expertise from private sector on marketing and public relations in terms of CSR Reflecting client voices through case studies and video testimonials Be clear about what our services are and how they are delivered Promote our access to service users What format should promotional materials take? Delegate comments: Varied approach - use different media to promote different messages to different audiences, for example website, social media including Facebook and Youtube. Page 5 of 7

6 Use the expertise of the consortium members to put the promotional materials together. Any Other Business What do we call ourselves? Tracey O Brien raised the topic of the consortium name. Tracey asked if the consortium name should also include social care. While it was agreed that well-being is a catch all phrase that could include social care, we would like a shorter, punchier name. Some suggestions included, The Being Well Consortium and The Birmingham BeWell Consortium. Tracey asked members to give some thought to the name of consortium. If we change the name, we must agree before work on promotional information is completed. Comments from delegates: Seek some advice in case the name is already in use The name should be in line with the terms of reference Buy it in Birmingham Mohammed Al-Rahim promoted a new website that Freshwinds has recently launched. The free site provides a place where voluntary sector organisations, social enterprises and other businesses can purchase goods and services from each other. General comments One delegated thanked the steering group for the work done so far and the commitment to develop we have the bricks, now we need to build the wall. The delegate also appreciated having the opportunity to get to know other consortium members. A number of delegates expressed an interest in having a list of members and a synopsis of what each organisation does. Tracey O Brien asked whether members would like a networking event, something along the speed dating model or perhaps each organisation gives a five minute presentation to the rest of the membership. The consensus was that a networking event would be useful. Mohammed Al-Rahim closed the meeting and thanked everyone for attending. Page 6 of 7

7 Actions BVSC to: Circulate data sharing consent form to members Circulate membership list Circulate consortium training and development form Circulate service prospectus template to capture additional information Arrange a networking event in the first quarter of the next calendar year Page 7 of 7