Health Reform Programme - Building new relationships

South Norfolk District Council elected members and lead officers have hosted a 'Getting to Know You' working lunch with colleagues from the Board of the emerging Southern Clinical Commissioning Group (GP leads and lead officers).

Supported by the East of England Local Government Association (the Association), the purpose of the event was to begin to build new relationships in the context of the changing face of the NHS and Local Government, and start a discussion about partnership opportunities which will improve outcomes for the people of South Norfolk.

The creation of new bodies such as clinical commissioning groups as part of the NHS operating environment at local level, and new responsibilities for local government, for example leading public health, provides a good platform for forging different relationships and creating new opportunities to work together for the benefit of the local population.  The working lunch came about following a discussion between the Association and South Norfolk about the role of Districts in supporting and delivering the changes within the context of the County as a whole, and an offer from the Association to support a workshop to facilitate and encourage partnership working at District level. This is part of a holistic programme of support coordinated by regional partners (including the East of England NHS and Improvement East) which is designed to encourage and support engagement with the health reforms. 

After thinking about options for this, Chief Executive Sandra Dinneen felt the most appropriate vehicle would be an informal working lunch and a round table discussion maximising the opportunity for people to engage with and get to know each other in an informal way whilst thinking about new opportunities for improving outcomes for the South Norfolk population.

The discussion, led by Sandra,  was structured around what was happening in relation to the reforms at county level including the establishment of the Health and Wellbeing Shadow Board, the transfer of the public health function and the development of Health Watch. At local level CCG clinical lead Dr Gary Whiting and Chief Officer Jocelyn Pike described the current position of their developing organisation regarding the authorisation process and their current challenges to establish the organisation whilst maintaining business. This was followed by a lively and positive discussion about the new opportunities the reforms present at a local level, county and local priorities, what was happening around the country, and ideas for working together going forward.

As a result of the lunch, attendees agreed several actions to be taken forward and were unanimous in appreciating the value of sharing perspectives and having an informal, but wide discussion at this early stage even though not all the detail of the health changes are clear and indeed the CCG was not yet fully established.   Some very simple but effective early actions were agreed including opening up neighbourhood forums to the CCG to consult and liaise with communities, and using an existing District Council publication  to enable the CCG to communicate with all South Norfolk residents. Some areas of investigation were also agreed including reviewing jointly some of the documentation residents use to apply for grants, disabled facilities, housing applications etc. There was a commitment to undertake some significant project work once the CCG was fully established but in the meantime an agreement to explore the idea of providing GPs with 'trial' passes to issue to patients for use in the leisure centres was agreed.

"All of us came away from that first meeting feeling very positive and having put in place firm foundations for much closer working. More practically, at South Norfolk Council we will open our neighbourhood forums and our community magazine to the commissioning group so it can better engage with our residents, and look at reviewing the paperwork residents have to fill in for disabled facilities grants and housing applications.

"We in local government, and our partners in the NHS, are going through an exciting period of real change, so our coming together like this with a vision for closer working, will mean real benefits for the communities we both serve."  Sandra Dinneen, Chief Executive South Norfolk District Council

South Norfolk has arranged a follow up working lunch in January and are meanwhile progressing the actions agreed whilst committing fully to County led development. In addition, Norfolk County Council have planned a session in November to support elected members to come together from all local authorities across Norfolk to hear more detail about the specifics of the health reforms.

As a result of the work in South Norfolk, the Association is offering some limited support on a first come first serve basis, to encourage similar engagement (tailored to need) in other areas as appropriate.

For further information about the South Norfolk event please contact:
Sandra Dinneen sdinneen@S-Norfolk.gov.uk or David Ellis dellis@S-Norfolk.gov.uk

For more information about the wider programme please contact:
Christina Wells Christina.wells@eelga.gov.uk or  Hannah Shah Hannah.shah@eelga.gov.uk