The Lancashire Health and Wellbeing Board met on Tuesday 15 July 2025. The meeting included updates on the Better Care Fund, discussions on improving home adaptations and equipment services, and a review of national policy changes, particularly the NHS's 10-year plan.

Better Care Fund Update

The Board received an update on the Lancashire Better Care Fund (BCF) for 2024-25 and 2025-26. Lancashire broadly met its performance targets for the four key BCF metrics in 2024-25. The plan for 2025-26 focuses on shifting from sickness to prevention and from hospital to home to promote independence and support people closer to home through integrated working. The Board was asked to ratify the 2024-25 end-of-year submission and the 2025-26 BCF plan. Discussions also covered the Neighbourhood Health Pathfinder initiative and Lancashire's self-assessment against the Managing Transfers of Care High Impact Change Model. An offer was made for a BCF awareness session for new Board members.

Unlocking the Potential: Improving Home Adaptations and Equipment Services

An overview was presented of the Lancashire Homes: Unlocking our Potential workshop, which aims to develop a collaborative and integrated pathway for community equipment, minor adaptations, Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs), and home improvement services to support independent living. Key challenges identified included waiting times, inconsistent use of trusted assessors, and data sharing issues. Opportunities for improvement involve better information sharing, re-mobilising home improvement agencies, and developing a consistent offer across districts. The Board was asked to consider and endorse the draft action plan and proposals from this workshop. Councillor Margaret France highlighted the issue of Occupational Therapist (OT) assessment backlogs for DFGs and supported the recommendation to adopt a model that allows for quicker processing of single, non-means-tested adaptations.

National Policy Changes and the 10-Year Plan

A discussion was led on national policy changes, including the NHS's 10-year plan, Fit for the Future, which emphasizes prevention, digital services, and community-based care. National changes include the merger of NHS England and the Department of Health, and the potential cessation of bodies like Healthwatch England. Locally, the plan proposes that Health and Wellbeing Boards develop neighbourhood health plans, which will be adopted as population health improvement strategies by Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). The ICBs are set to undergo restructuring, with NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB tasked with reducing running costs. Concerns were raised about the potential loss of the patient voice with the abolition of Healthwatch England and the impact of digital transformation on less digitally savvy individuals. Asim Patel from NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB welcomed the plan's direction but noted the need for local interpretation and action, highlighting planned headcount reductions for the ICB. Councillor Lorenzo Moore questioned the 47% reduction in ICB running costs, which was explained as a national directive to achieve a £19 per head population cost. Teri Stephenson expressed concern about the digital divide, and Councillor Graham Dalton suggested exploring wider technological applications for safeguarding. Councillor Margaret France voiced concerns about the shift from hospital to community care without additional funding, fearing it could lead to increased private healthcare provision and destabilise the NHS.

The Board discussed the implications of the 10-year plan and the potential need to refresh the Health and Wellbeing Board's terms of reference and strategy. It was proposed that a working group be formed to further consider these implications and develop proposals, with a view to presenting any changes to Full Council in October.

Other Business

The Board noted that there were no urgent business items. The recommendations for the Better Care Fund update were formally agreed. The date of the next meeting was set for 2 September 2025.