NHS teams across Somerset have been thanked for their role in helping the county’s health service live within its means and achieve financial balance this year, 2024-25.
Papers published by NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board, the local headquarters of the NHS in the county, show that spending will come in on budget and within the county’s allocation.
And at their meeting in Minehead on 27 March, NHS Somerset Board members were told how health leaders have also worked together to prepare a balanced budget for next year, 2025/26, which includes achieving nearly £92million in savings.
“Our strong financial track record is down to the hard work of clinical and managerial teams across the service, and I would like to send my sincere thanks to my NHS colleagues across the county,” said Jonathan Higman, Chief Executive of NHS Somerset.
“The work and commitment that goes into providing high quality services while balancing the books should not be underestimated. Next year’s task will be even harder to achieve and we will have to make tough choices but I am confident we will be able to live within our means.”
NHS Somerset’s overall budget for Somerset is about £1.5 billion. In 2023, NHS Somerset was entrusted with hosting the regional team who commission pharmacy, dentistry and optometry in support of the seven South West NHS integrated care boards, who took on this responsibility from NHS England for their populations.
At their meeting on 27 March, Board members approved plans for NHS Somerset to take on the role of Principal Commissioner and host of a regional commissioning team, on behalf of the six other South West systems, for a wide range of specialised services being delegated from NHS England to ICBs on 1 April 2025, giving it responsibility for an overall spend of £3.1 billion.
The meeting on March 27 also saw formal approval of the refreshed Joint ForwardPlan (JFP) for Somerset. The JFP outlines how health and care partners across the county intend to deliver healthcare services and improve health outcomes over the next five years, as set out in the county’s Integrated Health and Care Strategy.
The plan sets out five priority programmes:
• Redesigning clinical pathways to improve outcomes and experience for patients, increase consistency and collaboration across the county, and save money by streamlining treatment plans and targeting unnecessary treatments
• Developing the workforce to meet the changing needs of the population by fostering a collaborative culture and delivering a workforce strategy based on the needs of the Government’s emerging 10 Year Health Plan
• Tackling problems with ‘system flow’, which mean too many patients spend too long in the wrong care setting – including patients who are medically fit to leave an acute hospital but cannot be discharged due to delays in arranging appropriate care or support outside the hospital
• Developing Integrated Neighbourhood Teams to provide holistic, proactive, and personalised care in local communities
• Using Population Health Management techniques to tackle the avoidable differences in health outcomes, access to care, and overall wellbeing between different groups of people that arise due to social, economic, and environmental factors, such as income levels, education, housing, employment, and geographic location.
Tough financial targets mean delivering savings and efficiencies will be factored into each of the priority areas.