Sub-collaboratives of system partners were formed around key themes (population health and prevention, acute and crisis care, etc) – locally referred to as 'pillars'. Overseeing the pillars is a strategic steering group, which reports into a new executive board.
Dedicated 'enabler groups' carry out distinct functions on behalf of the whole structure (e.g. health inequalities, autism inclusivity, etc). There is also a clinical and quality senate, as well as a large programme support team (with workforce contributed to from across the partner organisations).
Finally, a new long-term contract was implemented in June 2022 – the outcome-based collaborative contract. The contract had three co-signatories, including the integrated care board, the NHS trust and the Mental Health Northants Collaboration (a Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) partnership).
The contract brought more than 35, formerly separate, NHS trust and VCSE contracts for adult mental health under a single framework. The NHS trust took on the role of lead provider and a collaborative agreement, signed by all parties, formalised arrangements for transparency and joint-decision-making. A key outcome of the contract is the gradual 'left-shift' of system resource, whereby effective use of crisis alternative initiatives gives rise to cost savings that are reinvested in population health and preventative initiatives.