Decision details

Summary

1.     The Healthy Child programme/ Public Health Nursing 0 -19 services proposal for next steps were presented at Policy and Resources committee on 13 February 2018 and a decision recorded “Note the options available for future 0 to 19 public health nursing provision and agree that, subject to further exploratory work confirming the feasibility and desirability of the proposals, that 0 – 19 Public Health nursing be brought ‘in house’ in April 2020”

2.     Further exploratory work was undertaken on feasibility and desirability by the commissioner for the services and presented to the Director of Public Health and the Executive Director of Family Services. After all options were considered in great details, a preferred option was agreed:  to re-procure Healthy Child Programme with a possibility of Section 75 partnership agreement, starting from 1 April  2020 with a 3 year + 1year + 1year contract extension.

3.     The decision not to bring the services in-house at present included the risks of recruitment and retainment of NHS staff within the council; the extensive clinical governance procedures that would need to be put in place (including a preparation for Care Quality Commission inspection and social care readiness to embark on a substantive transformation). 

4.     It was agreed that the priorities for the services were to achieve

• More Health Visiting (HV)  capacity to deliver a high quality service;

• Locally tailored service and;

• Integration with Early Help

5.     These priorities would be best achieved via re-procurement and a S75 partnership agreement with a newly procured provider.

6.     The re- procurement of the service will be delivered within planned 2020 budget (£4,961,618).

7.     A Chief Officers decision was recorded in May 2019 for the above.