The NHS has set out how it will ask NHS leaders and partner organisations, including councils, to operate in integrated care systems from April 2022.
All parts of England are now covered by one of 45 integrated care systems (ICSs) – partnerships that bring together providers and commissioners of NHS services with local authorities and other local partners to collectively plan and integrate health and care services to meet the needs of their area’s population.
Subject to legislation, ICSs will be put on a statutory footing from 2022. The recently published ‘Integrated Care Systems: design framework’ is intended to support their progression and development, and sets out the main ways NHS leaders and organisations will operate with their partners in ICSs from April 2022. The LGA has been consulted on the scope, tone and content of the document, and many of its concerns have been addressed.
Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “It is good to see NHS England and NHS Improvement’s inclusive approach to developing the design framework.
“We hope that this way of working will also be adopted by NHS leaders at regional and system level, in developing ICSs as a partnership of equals.
“The LGA supports the broad objectives of ICSs – to improve health and wellbeing outcomes through greater collaboration, more community based care and support, and addressing the wider determinants of health.”
