Changes to “critical” care funding were approved during a Liverpool Council meeting which lasted less than two minutes.
At a meeting of the council’s health and wellbeing board councillors took one minute and 44 seconds to approve a report detailing plans to change a partnership agreement between the council and local clinical commissioning groups over pooled budget and spending plans as part of the Better Care fund.
The Better Care fund, according to the report, is “a critical aspect of the plans to improve the integration of planning, commissioning and delivery of health and social care services in Liverpool, aimed at increasing the value of available resources and reducing avoidable use of hospital services and long term residential care.”
READ MORE: Murder probe launched after body of newborn baby found 'wrapped in Heron Foods bag'
The Better Care fund, which was originally established in 2013 under a different name, was intended to create “joined up” health and social care services and reduce the barriers created by separate funding streams.
The fund brings together allocations from clinical commissioning groups and local authority grants relating to disabled facilities, social care funding and the winter pressures grant.
The partnership agreement between Liverpool Council and the clinical commissioning groups had not been updated since being devised in 2013, although ‘deeds of variation’ had been provided over the years to include key changes, for example to hospital discharge funding arrangements last year in the light of the covid pandemic.
The report states that given ongoing changes to the agreement, including the addition of public health services: “Therefore, this year, it is proposed to revise the documentation and adopt the current published standard template format” recommended in national guidance.”
The report notes the Council’s contribution to the fund of £81,344,099 in 2021/21, with Liverpool's Clinical Commissioning Group contributing £53,345,927 and changes to the budget allocation for next year, reflecting the addition of public health provision.
Plans to establish a working group to look at expanding the partnership agreement to include children’s services were also recommended.
The report was originally subject to call-in to be further discussed before being approved.
But, with a deadline of December 27 looming for submission of documents for this year’s arrangements, speaking at a cabinet meeting held earlier in the morning Mayor Anderson said the call-in had been withdrawn to allow the agreement to be approved and signed on time.
With cabinet approval in place, the Health and Wellbeing Board then took less than two minutes to approve the plans, paving the way for the new partnership agreement to be signed off in time for council to break for Christmas.
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
