Appendix 1 – ICB Statutory Duties
As an ICB we have a number of statutory duties that it is required to fulfil by law. This Joint Forward Plan includes details as to how these duties will be delivered. We will exercise our statutory duties with the aim of:
- Meeting our population needs through commissioning of healthcare services and working with our partners in health and social care to deliver services that meet the needs of our population. See sections 1 and 2 for further details.
- Promoting integration within our system by working with our providers as well as our health and social care partners to build on existing integration and collaboration to better align and integrate our services to create efficiencies and benefits for our residents. See sections 2 and 5 for further details.
- Having regard to the wider effects of healthcare decisions through our governance and decision-making processes at system, place and neighbourhood levels. Ensuring that the NHS triple aim is considered in our decision making and evaluation processes. The triple aim being better health and wellbeing of the people of England (including by reducing inequalities with respect to health and wellbeing), better quality of NHS health care services (including by reducing inequalities with respect to the benefits obtained by individuals from those services), more sustainable and efficient use of resources by NHS bodies. See sections 2, 4 and 6 for further details.
- Achieving a balanced financial position: To support delivery of financial balance the ICB and partner trusts work together as a single system, but also in Place based collaboratives to explore clinical and service delivery models and opportunities for transformation of services. So, whilst each individual organisation agrees through its own governance processes an operational and financial plan for its organisation, this plan reflects the spirit of the duty to collaborate. See section 6 and Appendix 1 for further details.
- Improving the quality of services in line with our duty to continually improve the quality of care and outcomes and to deliver the ambition set out for us within the National Quality Board Guidance – ‘A Shared Commitment to Quality’ and the Long-Term Plan’s ambition for quality in the NHS. Our goal is to provide high quality personalised and equitable care for all now and into the future ensuring that quality is central to planning and decision making within our health and care system. Also that it is aligned with Public Health and Adult Social Care, the NHS Patient Safety Strategy and the People Plan. See section 6 for further details.
- Reducing health inequalities across our population and across all services and settings, reducing avoidable and unfair differences in health between different groups in society. We will utilise local intelligence including population health management systems to enable health and care staff to identify people most at risk of ill health and identify areas where health inequalities are greatest to ensure that resources can be targeted at people with the greatest need. We will also work in an integrated way to reduce the factors that contribute towards health inequalities. See sections 2, 5 and 6 for further details.
- Promoting involvement and patient choice of each person by expanding the choices and control that people have over their own care. Through social prescribing the range of support available to people will widen, diversify and become accessible across the area. Enhanced digital capabilities will ensure that people are empowered and will have the ability to access, manage and contribute to digital tools, information and services. articulated throughout our JFP. See sections 2, 5 and 6 for further details.
- Involving our residents who use our services, their carers, and communities, along with our staff that deliver our services. We will engage with them at the earliest stages of service design, development, and evaluation. We recognise that those with ‘lived experience’ of a particular issue or condition, their families and carers, and the staff that support them are often best placed to advise on what support and services will make a positive difference to their lives. We are committed to working with our residents to improve our services and will listen to what our residents tell us and respond to their needs. See section 2, 5 and 6 for further details.
- Addressing the needs of victims of abuse by ensuring that the proper systems are in place to help. We will continue to develop best practice to safeguard children who are subject to abuse and neglect, including victims of criminal or sexual exploitation. Adults or older people with greater vulnerabilities or complex needs will have specialist integrated drugs and alcohol support. Specialist support recognises and tackles the complexity of vulnerable adults’ needs such as victims of domestic abuse or sexual assault, sex workers, homeless people, veterans and older people. We will develop effective pathways to integrated services for domestic abuse victims and perpetrators. Agencies will collaborate to help everyone in the family affected by domestic abuse. The Serious Violence Duty (January 2023) will drive the ICS to embed practice to meet the legislative requirements. See section 6 for further details.
- Promoting innovation by utilising and realising the benefits of innovation to enable positive change in the way that we deliver our services. We will look to use innovation to improve our interactions with the public, patients and their families and develop new improved models of care. We will also look to advancements in technology to improve the management and delivery of care and deliver new treatments. See section 6 for further details.
- Promoting education and training through the delivery of our ICS People Strategy we will strengthen our health and care workforce and enable career development by embedding a culture of training and development across the system. This will be done by developing a system-oriented career and leadership pathway, ensuring staff from all backgrounds can access appropriate training and development opportunities and developing a system-led talent management process. We will also work with educational institutions to develop training and placement opportunities to address key skills gaps. See section 6 for further detail.
- Obtaining appropriate advice to enable us to successfully discharge our functions through our ICB governance arrangements that incorporate expert advice and also through broader engagement of the public (as outlined in section 2 and throughout this document). Also by strengthening relationships with national and regional clinical networks, academic health science networks and our local university to support with innovation and review pathways. See section 6 for further detail.
- Supporting delivery of our local health and wellbeing strategies through alignment with our plans and strategy detailed in our JFP and also with the Integrated Care Strategy. See sections 1,4 and 5 for further details.
- Utilising, facilitating and promoting both local and national research – we have well established research capabilities embedded within our provider organisations. Through research engagement network development (REND) funding will build on initial progress to develop an ICS research strategy. See section 6 for further details.
- Delivering against our targets to tackle climate change by building on our initial progress and delivering our ICS Green Plan 2022-25 in collaboration with our partners. See Section 6 for further details.
- Providing children and young people with the best start in life irrespective of where they were born and live. Our aim is to improve the health and care system to ensure that services are joined up and easy to access when and where they are needed and to ensure that the voice of the child is at the heart of all we do. Over the next 5 years we want to see improvements in the health of children and young people as a result of the work we do across the ICS, and with our neighbouring partners across Essex. See section 5.1 for further details.
- The Public Sector Equality Duty (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010) (PSED) - requires that public bodies should place considerations of equality, where they arise, at the centre of formulation of policy, side by side with all other pressing circumstances of whatever magnitude. The general equality duty not only applies to general formulation of policy, but also applies to decisions made in applying policy in individual cases. The views of our residents, patients, staff and communities in west Essex and Hertfordshire have informed and shaped the development of this plan. This was done using an approach that includes a wide-ranging literature review, focus groups, stakeholder engagement events and surveys. What our residents have said is included in each of the priorities covered in this plan. We acknowledge that our responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty are ongoing, and any work undertaken to deliver on the priorities will ensue that the views, and needs, of the nine protected equality groups will be included, where appropriate.