Your views: building a strong, integrated care system across England

Overview

We are asking patients, NHS staff, partner organisations and interested members of the public to give us views on proposals set out in the document Integrated Care: next steps to build strong and effective integrated care systems across England, which details our vision for a more effective and responsive care system across England. This document sets out how NHS organisations, local councils, frontline professionals and others will join forces in an integrated care system (ICS) in every part of England from April 2021.

In September 2019, NHS England and NHS Improvement made key recommendations for an NHS Bill aimed at removing current legislative barriers to integrated care, fostering collaboration, and more formally joining up national leadership to help deliver these ambitions. One of the key considerations in these recommendations was how, and to what extent, integrated care systems (ICSs) should be put on a statutory footing.

The response of the NHS and its partners to COVID-19, along with the further development of ICS have strengthened the case for greater legal clarity on ICSs and the organisations within them. With an NHS Bill included in the last Queen’s Speech, we believe there is an opportunity to establish ICSs as legal bodies to accelerate our vision for integrated care. To play a vital role to play in improving health and care systems in every part of England, we now believe that ICSs need to be on a firmer legal footing.

This document sets out two models to meet this goal without triggering an unnecessary and distracting top down NHS reorganisation. Both models would enable better planning, shaping and delivery of services across health and social care.

We want to hear from as many people and organisations as possible. We intend to share feedback with other health and care stakeholders, including the Department of Health and Social Care, to further develop our ideas. We will not include personal data in the information we share. Please see our privacy policy below for how we use information.

You can read more about the proposals, complete our survey and give us your views on the link below. Please note that the deadline for providing your views is Friday 8 January 2021 at midnight.