The Health Scrutiny Panel are scheduled to meet to discuss the reconfiguration of the health sector, the Healthwatch annual report, and the panel's work programme. The meeting will consider the impact of the removal of NHS England¹ on the Integrated Care Board, as well as the NHS's regional health plan. The panel will also review Healthwatch Wolverhampton's work over the past year.

Reconfiguration of the Health Sector

The Health Scrutiny Panel are scheduled to receive a report from David Melbourne, the CEO of Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull (BBCS) Cluster ICB, regarding the reconfiguration of the health sector.

The report includes recommendations for the panel to note the progress and next steps for the BBCS ICB in relation to the reduction in running costs and the plan to deliver the recently published Model ICB Blueprint². The panel is also asked to note the key focus of the 10 Year Health Plan for England.

Integrated Care Boards (ICB's) across the country are required to reduce their running costs by 50%. The report states that the Birmingham and Solihull and Black Country ICBs have been working to plan how they will meet the challenge set out by NHS England and the government to reduce running costs and achieve the vision detailed in the Model ICB Blueprint. The report details the new strategic commissioning model and the new cluster model for the Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull ICB.

The report also refers to the recently published 10 Year Health Plan for England, and notes the key priorities set out in the plan.

The report notes that a reduction in running costs for the BBCS ICBs will be required as part of the national directive. It also notes that consultation with the ICBs workforce will be required with any reduction in posts to be able to meet the running cost reduction stipulated by the NHS England and the Government, and that engagement with stakeholders will be managed via a robust communication plan.

The report also lists background papers relating to the report, including links to the NHS Long Term Plan and the Model Integrated Care Board – Blueprint v1.0.

The presentation that accompanies the report states that the blueprint clarifies the role and purpose of ICBs, recognising the need to build strong strategic commissioning skills to improve population health and reduce inequalities, and focus on the delivery of the government's three strategic shifts:

• treatment to prevention
• hospitals to communities
• analogue to digital

The presentation also breaks down ICB functions into categories:

• Grow and invest in
• Retain and Adapt (including delivery at scale)
• Review for Transfer from ICBs

The presentation states that the six current ICBs in the West Midlands will work together in three pairs, or clusters, to develop shared management and leadership arrangements:

• Birmingham and Solihull ICB cluster with NHS Black Country ICB
• NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB cluster with NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB
• NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB will cluster with NHS Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent ICB

The presentation also includes information about the 10 Year Health Plan for England, including how engagement shaped the plan, the three shifts, and the plan for delivery by 2028/29.

Healthwatch Annual Report 2024-2025

The Health Scrutiny Panel will be considering the Healthwatch Annual Report 2024-2025.

The report includes a message from the co-chairs, Suffia Perveen and Mandy Poonia, about the work that Healthwatch Wolverhampton has done over the past year.

The report states that Healthwatch Wolverhampton supported more than 3,093 people to have their say and get information about their care, and that their work is supported by 50 volunteers.

The report also includes information about how Healthwatch Wolverhampton has worked with neighbouring Healthwatch to ensure people's experiences of care in Wolverhampton are heard at the Integrated Care System (ICS) level, and they influence decisions made about services at the NHS Black Country Integrated Care Board (ICB).

The report gives examples of Healthwatch Wolverhampton's work in the community, including:

• Creating empathy by bringing experiences to life
• Getting services to involve the public
• Improving care over time

The report also includes information about Healthwatch Wolverhampton's work to improve support for people with autism, and people's experiences of mental health services in Wolverhampton.

The report also details Healthwatch Wolverhampton's work to reach out to communities whose voices may go unheard, including improving understanding of healthcare needs within South Asian communities, and helping refugees understand and access NHS care in an accessible way.

The report also includes information about how Healthwatch Wolverhampton has helped people with information and signposting, including raising awareness about appointment letters, and improving communication and joined-up care for patients.

The report also showcases the impact of Healthwatch Wolverhampton's volunteers.

The report states that Healthwatch Wolverhampton's top three priorities for the next year are:

• Continue working to address access needs for those with sensory loss.
• Tackling health inequalities further by reaching areas of the community they don't currently hear from.
• Ensuring a positive and joined up experience for those receiving adult social care by working with partners implementing integrated neighbourhood care.

The report also includes statutory statements, including information about the involvement of volunteers and lay people in Healthwatch Wolverhampton's governance and decision-making, methods and systems used across the year to obtain people's experiences, responses to recommendations, taking people's experiences to decisionmakers, Healthwatch representatives, and Enter and View visits.

Health Scrutiny Work Programme and You Said, We Did

The Health Scrutiny Panel will be considering the Health Scrutiny Work Programme and an update report on You Said, We Did .

The You Said, We Did report provides the Panel with an overview of actions taken as a result of the Panel's resolutions or raised relevant queries. The report includes a recommendation for the Panel to receive the You Said, We Did document, and asks the Panel to consider whether they are satisfied with the actions taken.

The report notes that Scrutiny Board and the Scrutiny Panels now have a standard item on their agenda's titled, You said, we did". The purpose of the item is to review actions from previous meetings. The actions from the first meeting of Health Scrutiny Panel of the Municipal year, which was held on 10th July 2025, are listed in the attached spreadsheet. One out of two actions are marked as closed. Additionally, an action from the previous municipal year, also remains open.

The appendix to the report lists the detail of the open action as:

That Public Health bring back an item to the Panel in the form of an action plan document showing what initiatives Public Health will implement for each of the ten priorities. In addition, the plan should show where the Public Health Grant funding is spent and detail how much money of the Public Health Grant will be spent on each of the priorities in terms of initiatives, in real term figures and percentage terms. The report should come to the Panel before the end of the calendar year, if possible, at the September or December meeting.

The appendix notes that this item is scheduled on the work programme for 11th December.

The appendix lists the detail of the closed action as:

That the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust work with the Council's Public Health Team on organ donation and report back to the Panel at a future date.

The appendix notes that One Wolverhampton have agreed to receive the annual Organ Donation report in the future the public health team will be linking with RWT through that partnership.