Consultation on contracting arrangements for Integrated Care Providers (ICPs)

Overview

NHS England publishes response to consultation feedback on Integrated Care Provider (ICP) Contract

NHS England has published its response following a consultation held about a new contract which can help local health and care communities provide better care for patients.

Around 3,800 written responses and feedback from stakeholder events across the country were received about plans for an Integrated Care Provider (ICP) Contract, which will be an option to help local systems integrate care.

The feedback will be used to further develop the ICP Contract, which will be available in its updated form as an option for use in local health and care systems from spring 2019.

The recent NHS Long Term Plan highlighted integration of services as a key aim: making sure that everyone can receive high quality care that is coordinated around their individual needs.

Integration is delivered through providers and commissioners working more closely together. But services are currently bought through a range of contracts which do not always relate clearly to each other, with terms and conditions, funding and incentive arrangements which are not always aligned.

The ICP Contract will give commissioners the option to commission services through a single contract, to build in integration and remove operational barriers.

An ICP Contract will give one lead provider responsibility for the integration of services for the local population, specifically to enable integration of primary medical services with other health and care services.

The ICP Contract will be made available for use by commissioners in a controlled and incremental way, conditional on successful completion of NHS England and NHS Improvement assurance through the Integrated Support and Assurance Process (ISAP).

We expect ICP Contracts will be held by NHS organisations or other public bodies.

Neither use of the ICP Contract nor adoption of lead provider models for integration will be mandatory: they will be options for local commissioners and their providers to consider.

The Long Term Plan and recent five year GP contract framework announced the development of Primary Care Networks (PCNs). Where commissioners and providers decide to develop an ICP, it will work with and support the development of local PCNs, through greater integration within neighbourhoods and improved at-scale working to deliver primary care and community services.

In response to consultation feedback, further requirements around financial controls, transparency and accountability will be developed before the ICP Contract is made available for use.

Integrated Care Provider (ICP) Consultation Response

NHS England undertook a 12 week consultation on the proposed contracting arrangements for ICPs.

The consultation period ran from 3 August to 26 October 2018, and the consultation document and supporting package of materials are available below:

• Contracting arrangements for Integrated Care Providers (ICPs): A consultation
• Easy read
• Draft ICP Contract questions and answers
• View the draft ICP Contract and further supporting documents

NHS England's full response to the consultation is available below. An easy read version of the consultation response will be published shortly.

• Contracting arrangements for integrated care providers – response to consultation
• Easy read