The leading membership bodies for trusts and primary care providers have announced their intention to work more closely together.

NHS Providers and the National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) plan to work together in response to the ambitions of the NHS long term plan to champion integration between primary and secondary care to support more integrated and personalised health and care services for local populations.

NHS Providers and the NAPC plan to work together in response to the ambitions of the NHS long term plan to champion integration between primary and secondary care.

   

The move will support providers across primary and secondary care with practical help to deliver the plan’s ‘triple aim’ - better health for everyone, better care for all patients, and sustainability, both for the local NHS system and for the wider NHS.

Trust boards already see primary care as one of their most important partners in ensuring integrated pathways and the delivery of high quality care that patients expect and deserve.

The two organisations will work together to explore and promote effective collaboration between primary care and trusts with a strong emphasis on learning from NAPC’s primary care home model - the model that has influenced national primary care network policy and shown the ‘art of the possible’.

The chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson said:

“I am delighted to announce that in the future NHS Providers and the NAPC will be working much more closely together to mirror the way that our respective members are now working more closely together.

“This is recognition of the fact that trusts see primary care colleagues as one of their most important partners in delivering services. We know that it is vital that primary and secondary care work together seamlessly across this artificial divide at the heart of the NHS. This is essential for integrated, high-quality and efficient patient care.

This is recognition of the fact that trusts see primary care colleagues as one of their most important partners in delivering services.

“This partnership comes at a critical and opportune time as we see the roll out of primary care networks at a local level and as we seek to support and learn from a range of models for trusts to progress partnerships with primary care bodies. This includes structural integration, networks, partnerships and opportunities to work with primary care at scale via federations and super partnerships.

“As part of our new three-year strategy, we agreed with members that we would strengthen our work in primary care, broaden our understanding, explore and promote models of primary / secondary care collaboration and develop deeper relationships with key primary care colleagues.

As part of our new three-year strategy, we agreed with members that we would strengthen our work in primary care, broaden our understanding, explore and promote models of primary / secondary care collaboration and develop deeper relationships with key primary care colleagues.

“We look forward to working with colleagues at NAPC, as a key part of this work, to add value to trusts and their partners across our respective members.”

NAPC’s joint national clinical director Dr Nav Chana said:

“We are delighted to be working with NHS Providers on our next phase of integration work. As we continue to innovate and shape the future of health care - building on the primary care home model - it is clear there is need to improve integration across providers within neighbourhoods with a focus on improving population health.

“The evidence suggests that key to the success of integrated care will be multi-agency high-performing teams working across providers in the system taking a proactive approach to improving the health and well being of their population. 

“Over the coming months we will be designing and testing integration models with providers based on our organisational development approach - which has been tried and tested with primary care homes - to fulfil the aspirations of the NHS long term plan. The aim is to come up with practical real solutions for the provider community which can be rolled out across England.”