4 – Pan-cluster planning groups (PCPGs)

Pan Cluster Planning Groups (PCPGs) are the mechanisms by which representatives of clusters come together at county population footprint to collaborate with representatives of health board and local authority, public health experts, planners and representatives of those services for which Professional Collaboratives are not appropriate e.g. services which should only be planned at county, health board/regional or even national level.

Purpose
The purpose of PCPGs is to deliver the aims of the Social Services & Well-being Act 2014 (the Act), The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act (2015) and A Healthier Wales. This builds upon current innovative practice and seeks to increase alignment and engagement between the Regional Partnership Board and Cluster arrangements bringing services together at a local level. PCPGs will be established as sub-groups of Health Boards and will operate under the auspices of the Regional Partnership Board (RPB) giving a direct route for information sharing and decision making between frontline services and strategic leadership.

PCPGs will agree a county population needs assessment and lead the development of integrated county level plans, making prudent use of all funding, workforce, and other resources and which address the health, care and wellbeing needs of the local population. PCPG assessment of needs and plans must inform and be informed by regional level assessments of need (which are a statutory function of RPBs). They should be viewed as a collective suite of interconnected needs assessments and plans. PCPGs will support the implementation of the joint partnership agenda, including delivery of change at a variety of levels, appropriate to need.

PCPGs will bring together senior leaders from the NHS, Local Authority and key partners in the Third Sector to provide integrated system leadership which enables collaboration between partner organisations. PCPGs will be informed by patient and public feedback, data based needs assessments and professional assessment of service pathway gaps, barriers and opportunities.

PCPGs will also commission services and develop agreements to support partnership working. Strengthened local collaboration and a shared purpose will be a priority for RPBs (Health Boards and Local Authorities) and driven through local organisational development strategies. Local autonomy should increase as systems mature.

Roles and responsibilities
Through the leadership and oversight of key work streams, the PCPG members will:

Identify agreed priority areas for improvement which require strengthened joint working to achieve better outcomes within available resources;
Develop and deliver a locality commissioning plan;
Promote and “live” a culture which actively removes, barriers, blockages and silos within organisations to ensure seamless services for the local population;
Engage key stakeholders in communities, with specific reference to minority and marginalised groups.
Support joint work and where required gaining appropriate authorisation within their own organisations for such.
Ensure that local government, NHS and third sector officers are able to work jointly within statutory and organisational governance arrangements that provide a framework of clear accountability:
Exercise oversight of the way in which resources are used, including relevant grants from Welsh Government;
Develop its capacity and capability for providing effective governance.
Authorise joint work and where required gaining appropriate authorisation within their own organisations for such.

Membership

Organisation	Role
Local Authority	Director of Social Services
Health Board	County / Locality Director
	Director of Planning
	Director of Primary and Community Care
[County] Clusters	Cluster Collaborative Leads
Public Health Wales	Director of Public Health
HB / LA	Senior Community Nurse
	Senior AHP Lead
	Integrated Team Leaders
Third Sector	Chief Officer CVC
Community Health Council	CHC Representative
RPB Partnership Organisation	Head of Partnerships or equivalent

In addition, the meeting will be attended by wider stakeholders.

Organisation

Role

Local Authority

Head of Strategic Joint Commissioning

Head of Adult Care

Head of Children’s Services

Senior Strategic Commissioning Manager

Housing Representative

Education Representative

Health Board

General Manager – DGH

General Manager – Community

Mental Health / Learning Disability

Children’s Services

Head of Primary Care

Commissioning should be undertaken on the basis of agreed principles:-

Understanding the needs of users and communities by undertaking effective and comprehensive engagement;
Consulting potential and existing provider organisations, including those from the third sector, and local experts well in advance of commissioning new services, working with them to set priority outcomes for that service;
Putting outcomes for users at the heart of the strategic planning process;
Mapping the fullest possible range of providers with a view to understanding the contribution they could make to delivering those outcomes;
Investing in the development of the provider base,
Ensuring contracting processes are transparent and fair, facilitating the involvement of the broadest range of suppliers
Ensuring long term contracts and risk sharing, wherever appropriate, as ways of achieving efficiency and effectiveness; and
Seeking feedback from service users, communities and providers in order to review the effectiveness of the commissioning process in meeting local needs.

Funding and Procurement
ACD Primary Care Cluster Financial Guide
WHC (2018) Number 025 - The Financial Framework

Conflict of interest
ACD Conflict of Interest

Leadership/OD
Gwella HEIW Leadership Portal for Wales

Model terms of reference includes:

Governance

ACD Supporting Governance (Model paper for health board use)

This paper has been written in order to provide a framework for Health Boards to use, such that they are able to clearly articulate the relationship between the Health Board, newly forming Pan Cluster Planning Groups and Clusters. This will allow the Health Board in due course to be confident in exercising the functions of planning ,commissioning and delegation / approval of resources.

This paper sets out the key governance principles, overarching legislation and suggested governance for consideration by health boards in developing and implementing the planning and delivery mechanisms described in the Accelerated Cluster Development programme.

Decision making

Pan Cluster Planning Group - Terms of Reference

The membership of the PCPG, the Chair and Vice Chair will be reviewed annually. The Chair will be agreed by the membership but it is expected that the Chair will rotate every two years.

The function, purpose, membership and governance of PCPG will be reviewed annually and the Terms of Reference altered accordingly.

There may be an identified need to undertake a review at other intervals in accordance with the implementation of health and social care national policy reforms and subsequent guidance.

Map of PCPG

Map of PCPG

ACD: What Good Looks Like Principles

ACD: What Good Looks Like Principles