Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Mrs Pat Alexander, Mr John Raine, Cllr Graham Garvie, Mr Andrew Murray, Mrs S Manion, Mr John McLaren, Mrs Jeanette McDiarmid, Mrs Carol Gillie and Dr Angus McVean.

The Chair confirmed the meeting was quorate.

The Chair welcomed members of the public to the meeting.

The Chair advised that Mrs Elaine Torrance had been appointed as Interim Chief Officer with effect from 1 December 2016.

The Chair sought any verbal declarations of interest pertaining to items on the agenda.

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD noted there were none.

Monday 17 October 2016

The minutes of the previous meeting of the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board held on 17 October 2016 were approved. 

Action Tracker

The HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE INTEGRATION JOINT BOARD noted the action tracker.

Mr Paul McMenamin gave a presentation on the current financial position.  He spoke of the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Boards’ delegated budget responsibility; the set aside budget; the projected financial position previously presented in August and the emerging delegated budget pressures, as well as other pressures in both NHS Borders and Scottish Borders Council.   

Mr David Davidson enquired if there was a sense of priorities for action from the Executive Management Team (EMT).  Mr McMenamin confirmed that the EMT had discussed in detail a number of areas under consideration and he was assured of their commitment to work in partnership to resolve the financial situation through minimising impact and maximising mitigation.

Mrs Jane Davidson commented that the matter was an in year situation and the bigger priority was to think ahead about budgeting into 2017/18 and she emphasised the commitment from EMT to ensure the right services were provided and sustained in the future.

Mrs Davidson also suggested there was a need to focus on a quicker delivery of the Strategic Plan objectives for health and social care.  The Chair suggested the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board would require advice on the issue of directions to facilitate such delivery through the EMT.

Mrs Jenny Smith reminded the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board that the Strategic Planning Group should be engaged with in terms of seeking advice on the Strategic Plan.  Mrs Smyth also suggested engaging with the third sector by seeking their thoughts on solutions to make efficiencies as she was mindful that there would be repercussions for the third sector in terms of commissioned services.

Dr Stephen Mather suggested squeezing spending further would put patient care at risk and he enquired if there was an identified point at which that squeezing would need to stop.  Mrs Davidson assured the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board that she would not compromise patient safety and she commented that she believed there were still efficiencies to be made and services that could be provided better together. 

Mrs Tracey Logan echoed the commitment of a partnership approach to sustainable future services and the need to pursue the joint budgeting exercise. 

Dr Cliff Sharp arrived.

Dr Mather pursued the question of there being an identified point at which patient safety would be compromised?  The Chair reminded the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board that the aim of the Strategic Plan was to shift the balance of care from acute to the community.  She reminded the Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board that it was the professionals that assessed the risk to patients and therefore suggested the question could not be answered at that time.

Mrs Elaine Torrance commented that as the Chief Social Work Officer she would ask if the care being sought was absolutely necessary and suggested the broader issues would be how that was managed.  She reiterated that it was a position for professionals on a daily basis to balance care requirements whilst being mindful of the financial consequences.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

There was none.

Monday 19 December 2016 at 2.00pm in Committee Room 2, Scottish Borders Council

The Chair confirmed that the next meeting of Health & Social Care Integration Joint Board would take place on Monday 19 December 2016 at 2.00pm in Committee Room 2, Scottish Borders Council.