Issue - meetings

Focusing on outcomes for people, this report sets out an analysis of the benefits delivered so far by the FutureCare Programme against the targets set in the FutureCare Diagnostic. 

Fewer people are being admitted into hospital beds, more people are receiving care at home and the length of time people are spending in intermediate care beds has reduced by an average of 5.5 days. 

However, more work is still required to deliver all of the benefits anticipated in the FutureCare Diagnostic and in particular to reduce the length of time people spend in UHD hospitals waiting to be discharged with a short-term care package.

Recognising that there are still 5 months remaining to deliver the first phase of the programme (anticipated completion: June 2026), there is still confidence that anticipated benefits will be delivered.

Positively, since the December update to the Committee, despite the impact of seasonal pressures on overall programme benefits, the cumulative benefits delivered to BCP have moved from a negative position of -£32,000 in October to a positive position of £55,000 at the beginning of February. 

There is also increasing confidence that the anticipated benefits in 2026/27 for BCP Council will be greater than forecast, though some of these are being offset by increasing demand pressures across the wider ASC budget.

The Programme Director – FutureCare Programme from Newton Impact presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

It was highlighted that while it focused on outcomes for people, the report set out an analysis of the benefits delivered so far by the FutureCare Programme against the targets set in the FutureCare Diagnostic. 

The report noted that fewer people were being admitted into hospital beds, more people were receiving care at home and the length of time people were spending in intermediate care beds had reduced by an average of 5.5 days. 

However, it was reported that more work was still required to deliver all of the benefits anticipated in the FutureCare Diagnostic and in particular to reduce the length of time people spend in UHD hospitals waiting to be discharged with a short-term care package.

Recognising that there were still 5 months remaining to deliver the first phase of the programme (anticipated completion: June 2026), there was still confidence that anticipated benefits would be delivered.

Positively, since the December update to the Committee, despite the impact of seasonal pressures on overall programme benefits, the cumulative benefits delivered to BCP had moved from a negative position of -£32,000 in October to a positive position of £55,000 at the beginning of February. 

There was also increasing confidence that the anticipated benefits in 2026/27 for BCP Council would be greater than forecast, though some of these were being offset by increasing demand pressures across the wider ASC budget.

The Committee considered the report, including:

• The programme continued to reduce hospital admissions and reduce length of stay in intermediate care beds, although challenges remained around patients with no criteria to reside.
• Discharge delays were attributed to limited availability of commissioned care packages and discharge planning beginning too late in the acute sector. Early discharge planning was highlighted as an area requiring continued improvement.
• Members queried whether additional steps would be taken to reduce average delays from medical fit to discharge; it was confirmed that system partners were already undertaking targeted work.
• The programme’s financial contribution from BCP Council (£912,000 due from January 2026) had been agreed previously and was included within the Medium Term Financial Plan.

RESOLVED that the Committee recognise the progress that continues to be made in delivering positive outcomes for Dorset residents and in achieving operational benefits for the Dorset health and care system.

Voting: Nem. Con