Agenda item

Report of Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Lynne McNiven, Consultant in Public Health, introduced the report of the Corporate Director for Children and Adults, seeking dispensation to extend the contract for School nursing until March 2017 in order to allow all options for integration of children’s 0-19 services to be fully explored. Ms McNiven highlighted the following points and responded to councillors’ questions:

(a)  Nottingham City Council became responsible for commissioning School Nursing services in April 2013, and the current contract, delivered by Nottingham CityCare Partnership expires on 31 March 2016;

(b)  a wider Child Development strategic review is underway. This will address all elements in the delivery of the Healthy Child Programme from 0-19 years. Responsibility for commissioning health visitor and family nurses transfers to the City Council from 1 October 2015, and extending the school nursing contract by 1 year will enable all these services to be re-modelled, and savings identified, in due course;

(c)  the child development strategic review is also being considered by the Children’s Partnership Board, commissioning proposals for delivery of the Healthy Child Programme will come forward in the summer of 2016. councillors advised that Councillor Sam Webster, the Portfolio Holder for Schools, will need to be consulted as part of the wider commissioning programme;

(d)  A councillor advised that clear ‘buy-in’ from school head teachers is needed so that all parties are clear about the service to be delivered, and clarity is also required to ensure that services align with those provided under the Small Steps Big Changes programme.

RESOLVED to

(1)  approve the extension of the Public Health contract detailed in  exempt Appendix 1 for 1 year, at a cost not exceeding its current contract value;

(2)  approve dispensation from sections 5.1.1 and 5.1.2 of the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules, in accordance with section 3.29 of the Council’s Financial Regulations, in respect of the Public Health contract indicated in exempt Appendix 1. The Chief Finance Officer has been consulted on and agrees to this resolution;

(3)  delegate authority to the Director of Public Health in consultation with the Portfolio Holder of Adults and Health, to agree the final value and award the contract for the service listed in exempt Appendix 1, providing this does not exceed its current value, noting that a Delegated Decision Making Form would need to be completed to record this decision;

(4)  delegate authority to the Head of Quality and Efficiency to sign the final contract extension in respect of the service detailed in exempt Appendix 1, following approval by the Director of Public Health to the agreed contract award;

(5)  give approval to spend the budget to support the contractual value set out in exempt Appendix 1. If the contractual value is over and above the current indicative value, a separate report will be presented for approval.

Reasons for recommendations

(1)  To allow the option to integrate Public Health Nursing services (0-19) by aligning the procurement of the service to timescales of the Child Development Strategic Review (CDR) and the re-procurement of Public Health Nursing (0-5) services (Health Visiting and Family Nurse Partnership).

(2)  To maximize the potential for increased integration of universal / preventative and early help services. Postponing the procurement will allow an in-depth options appraisal as part of the CDR to be developed which will determine the most effective, efficient, acceptable, accessible and equitable use of resources utilising  an evidenced based integrated pathway of services for pregnant women, babies, children and young people up to the age of 19.

(3)  To support the achievement of a consistent and seamless delivery of the Healthy Child Programme 0-19 and achieve quality outcomes for children and parents and contribute to the recommendations from the Nottingham City Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and relevant Public Health Outcomes Framework indicators.