Published on: 19 March 2021
NHS England has today confirmed that Herefordshire and Worcestershire will be designated as an Integrated Care System (ICS) from 1 April 2021, in line with expectations set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
The Government has subsequently proposed a White Paper that will be considered by Parliament and recommends that Integrated Care Systems become statutory NHS bodies in April 2022, replacing Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
This is the culmination of many years of effort to build partnership working across the NHS, local authorities, the third sector and patient groups.
Integrated Care Systems bring greater collaboration to all parts of the health and care system including GPs, hospitals, community care and social care, as well as physical and mental health services, county and district councils and the voluntary sector.
Working together we will be better able to tackle health inequality, join up the care for those with multiple conditions, improve support for people with life-long illness and support children to lead healthy lives. Our patients will find it easier to access services, see more joined up care delivery and staff should find it easier to work with colleagues from other organisations.
Since the emergence of Covid-19, health and care organisations across Herefordshire and Worcestershire have already been working even more closely together. For example, the vaccination programme has been a combination of efforts from the various parts of the local health and care system, many more GP and out-patient appointments have been delivered via video link with patients, while some tests previously done in hospital are now carried out by GPs saving patients journeys and reducing the risk to patients and staff of transmitting the disease.
The establishment of an ICS across Herefordshire and Worcestershire now allows us to ensure that this approach to partnership working lasts beyond the current pandemic.
We believe that we have a great foundation to make the transition to an ICS as smooth as it can be for our system, and most importantly for the population that we serve.
