Agenda item

Cabinet:

1.     Approved the Council joining an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) with BHR health and social care partners, hosted by London Borough of Redbridge.

2.     Authorised the Director of Adult Services to sign the Section 101(LGA 1972) / Section 75 (NHS Act 2006) agreement and all further documentation necessary to facilitate the participation of the Council in the Integrated Community Equipment Service.

The Integrated Community Equipment Service report was presented to Cabinet by Councillor Wendy Brice-Thompson, Cabinet Lead Member for Adult Services and Health.  This detailed the background to the recommendations and how the London Borough of Havering currently commissions the service through the Framework Contract for the Community Equipment Service.  The Framework was most recently retendered in 2015 for a period of four years to 30^th November, 2019.

An independent review of the Community Equipment Service was commissioned in 2017.  The remit was established by the partners through the Discharge Improvement Working Group (DIWG).  This highlighted that a number of partners are currently delivering a fragmented service of lesser quality at a greater cost due to delay in delivery and complex administrative arrangements; Fragmented services relying on multiple local back office support arrangements; procurement of equipment directly from suppliers; and diseconomy of scale.

The recommendation of the review was to establish an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) hosted and led by the London Borough of Redbridge through a section 75/101 agreement with each of the health and social care providers across the Barking, Havering and Redbridge area.

The integrated service went live on 5^th February, 2018 with LBH joining in shadow form with aligned operational processes.

Savings have been identified and are detailed within the report at appendix one.  There are also clear benefits to the framework.

Discussion followed with consideration given to the reasons behind the recommendations and of the other options considered.

Cabinet:

1.     Approved the Council joining an Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) with BHR health and social care partners, hosted by London Borough of Redbridge.

2.     Authorised the Director of Adult Services to sign the Section 101(LGA 1972) / Section 75 (NHS Act 2006) agreement and all further documentation necessary to facilitate the participation of the Council in the Integrated Community Equipment Service.