Decision details

Background Information:

KCC is a partner local authority in the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System and a statutory member of the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Partnership (ICP). It is a statutory requirement for Integrated Care Partnerships to produce an Integrated Care Strategy, which sets the strategic direction and priorities for the health and wellbeing of the population.

The Integrated Care Strategy has been developed by the three statutory partners of the ICP – KCC, Medway Council and NHS Kent and Medway. It will be approved by each of these partners through their own governance arrangements subject to recommendation for approval by the ICP at its meeting on 7 December 2023. Cabinet will be asked to approve the strategy for KCC on 4 January. Recommendation by the ICP and approval by all the three statutory partners will be required before the strategy can be implemented.

The Kent and Medway Integrated Care Strategy also performs the role of the Kent Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Given that the Kent area covers most of the Integrated Care System’s footprint, having a single strategy for the health and wellbeing of the population of Kent will provide clarity and ensure that all partners are focused on delivering the shared outcomes that have been identified. Having a separate Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Kent would risk duplication and diversion of resources. The Kent Health and Wellbeing Board is responsible for approving the Joint Local Health and Wellbeing Strategy for Kent will receive the Integrated Care Strategy at its next meeting in December.

An Interim Integrated Care Strategy for Kent and Medway was produced and approved by the ICP and statutory partners in December 2022 in order to meet government requirements. KCC and partners committed to refreshing it by the end of 2023 to allow for full engagement and consultation to inform and develop the final version. Details of the Decision 22/00097 taken by Cabinet to approve the Interim Integrated Care Strategy can be accessed here. During 2023, extensive consultation with stakeholders and the public has taken place and the findings have informed the refreshed version that will be presented for approval. The Strategy has also been shaped by the Joint Strategic Needs Assessments for Kent and Medway.

The strategy will be a vehicle for the further integration of health and care services to better meet the needs of individuals and communities, support the sustainability of health and care services and go beyond ‘traditional’ NHS and social care services to act on the wider determinants of health with other partners to bring real improvements in health outcomes. It will support KCC to achieve the commitments set out in Framing Kent’s Future to integrate our planning, commissioning and decision making in adult’s, children’s, and public health services through being a partner in the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System at place and system level.

Cabinet agree to:

(a)  APPROVE the adoption of the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Strategy following final recommendation by the Kent and Medway Integrated Care Partnership,

(b)  DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health to take the relevant actions to implement this decision,

(c)   DELEGATE authority to the Director of Public Health, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, to make non-substantial revisions as appropriate during the lifetime of the Strategy.