Integration is not an end in itself – it is key to improving the health and lives of local people.
With the Health and Care Bill (subject to successful Parliamentary passage) set to put integrated care systems (ICSs) on a statutory footing, and the publication of the Government’s white paper on integration, now is the time for local political and NHS leaders to grasp this unique opportunity to move integration into the mainstream of our planning and support for people and communities.
The LGA and the NHS Confederation have been at the forefront of championing integration, not as an end in itself, but to improve the health of the population and people’s lives. In 2016, our two organisations set out their own vision of integration:
- Integration will deliver services that are organised and delivered to get the best health and wellbeing outcomes for communities. They will be in the right place, making the most of the strengths and resources in the community.
- Care, support and information will be available at the right time, to avoid escalating ill health, and with the emphasis on prevention. Services will be designed with, and centred on, the needs of the individual, with equitable access for all and making best use of community and voluntary sector provision. They will also be provided by the right people – professionals working with each other and with citizens, and who enable them to look after their own health and wellbeing.
- Local leaders will, together, do what is best for their citizens and communities ahead of institutional needs. It means directing all of the resources in a place – not just health and care – to improving citizens’ wellbeing, and increasing investment on community provision. It also means sharing responsibility for difficult decisions, particularly in securing sustainable and transformed services.
Almost six years on, this remains the vision to which we should all aspire.
We have welcomed the Government’s ‘light touch’ approach in the Health and Care Bill because it recognises that each ICS is different in terms of geography, demography, scale of health and care challenges, configuration of services, and strength of joint working.
But this means that there is no single national blueprint for how ICSs will ensure that they are a partnership of equals between the NHS, local government and their communities.
Each ICS will have an integrated care board (ICB), responsible for joining up NHS organisations to collaborate on delivering better care and support, and an integrated care partnership (ICP) that will develop the overarching strategy to drive a shared vision for joined-up care and support, and improved population health outcomes.
It is imperative that the ICB and the ICP are a partnership of equals, with each playing their vital and distinct roles.
It is equally important for ICSs to work with the place-based partnerships within their wider footprints, to build on the important work of health and wellbeing boards in setting out their place priorities through joint health and wellbeing strategies.
Across the country, leaders of health and care are working at system and place level to turn national policy into local reality.
Nationally, our two organisations are working together to highlight this good practice and support all councils and their NHS partners to make the ambition for joining up health and care a reality for all our communities.