The NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board will “break the lives” of Portsmouth residents, a Portsmouth City Councillor has said.
Portsmouth City Councillors raised “incredibly serious” concerns over the ICB which replaced clinical commissioning groups in Portsmouth, Southampton, IoW and Hampshire in July 2022.
The ICB allocates NHS resources across these regions, functioning on a larger scale than the more localised CCGs.
“Severe financial pressure”
During a recent Portsmouth Full Council meeting, Councillor Matthew Winnington raised a notice of motion highlighting the “severe financial pressure” faced by the ICB as a result of budgetary challenges inherited from previous NHS organisations.
The ICB finished the 2022/23 financial year with a revenue deficit of £12.6m.
“Significant impact” on Portsmouth Place Team
The ICB’s deficit has had a “significant impact” on the Portsmouth Place Team, including the loss of the place director who acted as the “main conduit” between the ICB and Health and Care Portsmouth – a healthcare partnership dedicated to the city.
The ICB’s finances have also reduced the “autonomy of local ICB staff” to make funding and partnership decisions “compared to when the CCG existed”.
“Not focused on the needs of the people of Portsmouth”
It then claimed the ICB “is not focused on the needs of the people of Portsmouth” and that the “autonomy” of the previous system has been compromised.
Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson welcomed the motion, however, he said that if he had written it he “would have gone a lot further”. He added,
“I think we should be pulling out of the ICB.”
He applauded the previous system for forming close relationships between health and adult social care services. However, he expressed concern that the council has been “forced” into a larger and more bureaucratic system.
“The ICB in Hampshire is broken and it will break the lives of Portsmouth citizens while it continues to operate in a dysfunctional way.”
Gosling: New system has set Portsmouth back
Councillor Lewis Gosling agreed with Councillor Vernon-Jackson’s points, admitting that the new system has set Portsmouth back.
However, he doesn’t think the council should leave the ICB entirely. He’s hopeful that despite the challenges, they “can get to a point of improving the outcomes for everybody.”
The motion urges the council’s chief executive to draft a letter expressing concerns to Maggie Macslaac, the chief executive of the ICB, and to the Secretary for Health and Social Care.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
