Agenda item

To consider the Board’s  Business Plan.

The Board was being asked to give consideration to a moratorium for the 2021/22 Business Plan owing to delays being experienced because of ongoing COVID-19 response work, and the wider changes to the public health system and Integrated Care System.

The Director explained that, previously, a commitment was made to produce a regular monitoring report on programmes with the next level of detail but - since that time - COVID-19 had continued to mean the public health team had found that business as usual to be challenging. In addition, wider public health system reform, and the development of Integrated Care Systems for April 2022, had meant a lack of clarity about priorities and ongoing responsibilities.

On that basis the moratorium was considered the best means of taking stock and reassessing priorities to ensure a meaningful Business Plan could be delivered: addressing the issues at hand and how these commitments could be best fulfilled going forward, with a comprehensive Business Plan being developed for the 2022/23 financial year. This would provide sufficient time to complete recruitment to vacant posts, identify and agree new priorities in line with national and local system reform, and align capacity on agreed work programmes to ensure a balance between ongoing COVID-19 and business as usual public health work.

The Board was being asked to note the progress with developing a clearer, resourced plan for 2022-23, taking into account new Spending Review commitments, public health system reform, and the launch of the local Integrated Care System.

The Board recognised and acknowledged the reasons for the proposed pause in the Plan at this stage and the circumstances for why this was the case. However they asked that – if at all practicable – the Plan be more extensive in its priorities and breadth for future years, so as to provide a vision for some 5 years hence – in order that priorities, and the practicalities of delivering these, could be assessed in good time.

In fulfilling its core commitments, early interventions in prevention were critical and the Board considered there a need for the profile of Public Heath Dorset to be raised so that other organisations and the public could see what was being done and how it was being done. Initiatives such as LiveWell Dorset were seen to be playing a key part in encouraging participation in public health benefits. The Comms Team had a significant role to play in broadening the profile, in conjunction with Board members, other elected members and other public sector organisations. Examples of case studies about interventions and benefits from peers who had experiences to tell, was seen to play an important part in ensuring the message was readily received.

Given the fundamental role public health played in all services provided, a series of seminar or briefings  would be welcomed to broaden the understanding of what Dorset Public Health was about - to Councillors and Town and Parish Council’s, with input from GP’s, the CCG and other relevant bodies, with a link to the recording of Board meetings being possibly considered so that what it was doing and how it was going about it was readily available.

Resolved

That the proposal to pause development of a business plan for 2021-22 due to delays because of ongoing COVID-19 response work, and the wider changes to the public health system and Integrated Care System be supported and endorsed

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Reason for Decision

To ensure sufficient time for the development of a meaningful business plan, Public Health Dorset is pausing work on the 21-22 plan, aiming instead for a final plan to be published for 22-23. This will provide more clarity on ongoing responsibilities around COVID-19 and local outbreak management plans, and ensure we understand new responsibilities under the national changes to the public health system, and local Integrated Care System.