North Ayrshire Integration Joint Board (IJB) has received a positive report on its annual accounts from external auditor Audit Scotland.
The IJB is the legal governing body of North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership (NAHSCP) and is responsible for the strategic direction, effectiveness and efficiency of the partnership.
The board has a statutory duty to produce annual accounts, which are subject to scrutiny from the external auditor.
The IJB’s annual accounts set out key messages in relation to the IJB’s financial planning and performance for the period 2022-23 and how this has supported the delivery of its strategic priorities. It also looks forward, outlining the future financial plans of the IJB and the challenges and risks the board will face as it strives to deliver services that continue to meet the needs of the people of North Ayrshire following the Covid pandemic.
In response to the annual accounts report, Audit Scotland concluded it gave “a true and fair view of the financial position of the IJB”, highlighting that the board has “appropriate and effective financial management arrangements in place”.
The auditor also stated the accounts report was “clear, comprehensive and outlined a transparent forecast of the IJB’s financial position for the years ahead”, taking into account a range of scenarios and assessing the impact of known pressures on the IJB’s finances, such as inflation, pay awards, the challenging economic climate, the impact of the National Care Service and workforce challenges.
In addition, the IJB is described as having a “clear strategic vision that is supported by its partners”, as set out in NAHSCP’s ‘Caring Together’ Strategic Plan for 2022 to 2030, with the board also being commended for having effective arrangements in place for managing and reviewing performance.
With an increasing focus on organisations demonstrating the best use of public money, openness and transparency in how a body operates and makes decisions is key to supporting understanding and scrutiny. While no specific best value work was undertaken by Audit Scotland in 2022-23 in relation to North Ayrshire IJB, the audit report concluded the IJB has arrangements in place to ensure appropriate spending of public money as evidenced in its clear strategy, performance reporting and framework for continuous improvement.
The IJB has also updated its financial plan, which shows a cumulative estimated savings gap ranging from best case £1.1m to worst case £22.7m in the period to 2026-27. The auditor’s report highlights the Partnership’s Transformation Plan, which is being refreshed to focus on the financial challenges that the partnership expects to face in 2024-25 and 2025-26. The plan is critical to the ongoing sustainability of service delivery and while not all of the transformation projects have savings attached to them, there is an expectation they will lead to service improvements.
With regards to workforce challenges, the partnership faces ongoing workforce pressures – a challenge that is shared by HSCPs and NHS boards nationally. The IJB reported a £3.7 million underspend against the 2022-23 budget, the main factor in which was the continued challenge in recruiting and maintaining staff in the health and care sector across all service and professional areas.
The Audit Scotland report highlighted the work being done by the IJB to address current recruitment issues, making reference to its current three-year Workforce Plan that sets out local priorities in attracting, training, employing and nurturing staff.
The IJB also continues to experience challenges with delayed transfers of care and is working with partners in NHS Ayrshire and Arran to address this. However, the progress made was acknowledged by Audit Scotland, with the number of delayed transfer bed days in North Ayrshire for any reason dropping from 2,072 in December 2022 to 1,610 in February 2023.
Councillor Margaret Johnson, IJB member and cabinet member for health and social care at North Ayrshire Council, said: “Like other Integration Joint Boards across the country, North Ayrshire IJB faces significant ongoing financial, performance and recruitment challenges.
“We are delighted Audit Scotland has acknowledged the great work being done to ensure we can keep providing high quality care and support to those who need it.
“We will continue to work in partnership to ensure effective planning and transformation of services – as well as recruiting and retaining our workforce – so that we can deliver on our strategic priorities while providing best value in terms of public spending.”
Councillor Margaret Johnson welcomed the results of the independent audit. No_B48accounts01_23_Margaret_Johnson