better care fund

April sees the start of the plans agreed between health and social care to spend – as a minimum - the £5.3bn of the Better Care Fund on action to improve the performance and sustainability of the whole health and social care system. The integration agenda has the potential to grow much wider than that, as explored by CIPFA’s ongoing series of Roundtable discussions and demonstrated by the Manchester devolution initiative, but it is also crucial to make the most of the Better Care Fund as the main mechanism for integration.  

CIPFA has been closely involved in three key pieces of work:

• ‘Pooled Budgets and the Better Care Fund’ - this publication, developed together with the HFMA, looks at the governance and finance issues underpinning the operation of a pooled budget.
• The Better Care Fund Taskforce’s ‘How To’ guides - they provide practical steps to progress implementation, the current titles are:
  
  • How to lead and manage Better Care implementation 
  • How to bring budgets together and use them to develop coordinated care provision
  • How to work together across health, care and beyond 
  • How to Measure Impact and Understanding (coming soon)
• The Department of Health’s guidance on Accounting for the Better Care Fund - due to be released in the next couple of weeks.