Introduction

The event in Yorkshire and Humber attracted a wide audience of staff from both the statutory and voluntary sector including Foundations Trusts, Registered Providers, Charities, PCTs and Community Interest Companies.

The Chair of the event Carolyn Heaney, Deputy Regional Director, Department of Health introduced the day, providing a helpful context as to what the event hoped to achieve and effectively chairing the lively expert panel question and answer panel in the last plenary.  Vic Rayner, Chief Executive Officer made a joint Sitra and National Housing Federation presentation Joining up the dots of the new landscape to enable participants to have an overview of the policy environment before attending the first session of workshops which were themes around three areas commissioning services, the voluntary sector and regional work.

After lunch participants heard from two service users Gary Staniforth and Andrew King who did an excellent job of reminding professionals the importance of service users having choice and control and how critical it is that services such as health and housing work in partnership.

After the final session of workshops, Gary Staniforth and Vic Rayner joined Andrew Van Doorn, National Housing Lead, National Mental Health Development Unit and Jean Rollinson Work stream Co-coordinator, JSNA Development Programme, Department of Health to from an expert panel chaired by Carolyn Heaney fielding challenging questions from the floor.  Carolyn Heaney then summed up the conference making the following recommendations:

Recommendations

  • It is critical to track down the Foundation Trusts and ensure that there is greater representation of the Foundation Trusts at future events – they are a partner that we need to have in the room
  • It is vital for housing to take the opportunity to get engaged in the health and well being board
  • There needs to be encouragement for commissioners to embrace the outcomes agenda and to manage their anxiety about commissioning outside of a tight measurement based framework
  • The reform agenda will be very important
  • Changes in the future must be underpinned by the twin drivers of personalisation and co-production. Need to ensure that have all the people around the table who are involved including service users, commissioners and providers
  • There are lots of new buzzwords in the air – and the customer journey is a key one to understand – it can present a minefield for service users
  • We need to remember that the health paper is designed to liberate the NHS to work with ‘any willing provider’. Housing providers should take up the challenge and start to offer health services – need to get in there and do it
  • Remember that service users are not interested in who funds the service or whether it has been jointly commissioned – their focus is on receiving a good service.

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Question and Answer session with expert panel

Question
In the current environment, feels like everything is subject to change – however, those that will survive all this flux are housing associations and foundation trusts. They need to be encouraged to invest in provider innovation – do the panel feel that there is an appetite within Foundation Trusts to work in a different way?

Responses
Health and housing are two different worlds and we struggle to get them together. Provider led relationships are going to be a thing of the future and crucial to this is the relationship between Foundations Trusts and RSL. There is some examples of excellent work around the country for example Leeds in Yorkshire and Humber.

Question
There is an emphasis by the government on public health – which seems to have a focus on personal choice and behaviour change. How can we ensure that the elements of Marmot review focussing on the wider community get a greater profile in comparison to those looking at more clinical aspects of public health?

Responses
Public health is about personal choice and changing behaviour this is how housing has got into the conversation. There is however now an emphasis on personal responsibility which can be detrimental for people with substance misuse issues we must understand that peoples choices are informed by their experiences.

Housing has got a huge potential to deliver the mechanisms for improving public health.

Question
What do the panel think about the suggestion that some local authorities are looking at residential care as a way of cutting costs?

Responses

  • Residential care is usually not the cheapest option nor appropriate or best for the individual. It is true that local authorities removing the criteria up for adult social care.
  • We need to pick up on the preventative message now we have new commissioners we need to let them know what services voluntary organisations can offer
  • We need to make sure that service users’ voice is heard in these strategic planning decisions we do not want to isolate people more into insulated communities.
  • There is a role for the community in how this works in reality locally.  In order to get social cohesion you need decent service users’ involvement.
  • Avoid the revolving door as prevention is cheaper than cure.


Question
How do the panel think that GPs will use supported housing?

Responses

  • GPs will want access to whole local solutions and where supported housing is a key partner in the NHS they will be used as GPs will look to the NHS for support with commissioning.
  • Supported housing need to play a bigger role in Health and Wellbeing Boards we need to emphasis the impact housing has on health and vise versa.
  • Currently there is to many unknown with GP consortia.
  • There is a rich amount of information on supported housing outcomes data about what interventions work also supported housing has access to service user forums and as commissioners want to work with service users these could be really helpful to them.
  • An example was given about the work in Salford where two larger providers got together with public health to identify what to do with redundant buildings.
  • There is a potential to innovate and improve peoples outcomes – examples of health provider who have moved into offering housing and social care – it is possible.

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