A DECISION has been reached not to support an accountable care system (ACS) in Cornwall, following the recent Cornwall Council inquiry into integrated strategic commissioning and discussion by cabinet.

The Post has previously reported that last month, members of Cornwall Council’s Health and Adult Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee decided to recommend to the council’s cabinet that a new joint health and care committee is set up to test how joined up strategic commissioning for health and social care can work — known as a ‘shadow Accountable Care System’ (ACS).

Members of the committee recommended to cabinet that, as this is a new way of working, there should be a transition period, described as shadow working, so that the emerging model is tested, reviewed and refined.

However, the council made a turnaround last week.

Cornwall Council cabinet member for adults Rob Rotchell, who is also Liberal Democrat ward member for Camelford, and mayor of the town, said: “Whilst we don’t support the establishment of an ACS in Cornwall, we do support the integration of health and care services.

“We want to develop integrated commissioning of health and care — joining up the way we work and ensuring we spend the resources of council and the NHS wisely.

“Our priority is to put residents first and organisations second, as well as bring together health and care practitioners to supply care in a person-centred way which is closer to home for our residents.

“We believe in the NHS, but this doesn’t mean we want to run the NHS services. We will jointly lobby for fair funding for Cornwall and we believe that we are stronger when we harness the clinical expertise of the NHS with local democratic leaders to improve local services.

“We don’t believe in creating a new organisation or committee for strategic commissioning, and will instead strengthen the existing Health and Wellbeing Board to become a more effective decision making body.

“We believe these arrangements will allow us to deliver better services, such as those as evidenced by the significant improvement in delayed transfer figures.”

The Conservative Group on Cornwall Council hit back at this decision.

Cllr Andy Virr, Conservative health spokesperson and chair of the ACS Inquiry Panel, expressed his ‘dismay’ at the ‘poor decision’, which he said goes against the recommendation of the Health and Social Care Scrutiny’s Inquiry Panel.

He said: “Your letter to health leaders gives the very clear impression that you have kowtowed to political pressure from far-left wing protesters, whose protestations were demonstrated to be unfounded during the four-day inquiry. There was no evidence that the proposal would in any way lead to an increase in privatisation of healthcare in Cornwall.

“Furthermore, you have ignored the clear voice of health and social care leaders whom, with one voice, declared that doing nothing was the worst of all options. Your kind words regarding working together are, I’m afraid, vacuous without a commitment to integrate and combine budgets.

“The inquiry panel found that a new organisation was not required to deliver this and integration could be achieved through combined budgets and the use of existing joint health and social care budgets.

“It is disappointing that you have played politics with this decision, playing to the crowd over unfounded concerns and pointing to the government for additional funding (however welcome that may be). Instead, you had the opportunity to demonstrate strong leadership and make the most of the funding available to Cornwall by putting health and social care leaders in the same room to make the best choices on how it should be spent for the benefit of patients and population across Cornwall.”