Purpose

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.

Decision

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.