Delivering better care that works seamlessly for patients is a central ambition for national policy makers and local practitioners alike. While key strategic decisions to promote collaboration among health and care organisations will be taken across integrated care systems, and some improvement work will be delivered at scale through provider collaboratives, much of the operational work of making integration happen on the ground will be led and delivered by place-based partnerships.
The challenge for these partnerships is to ensure delivery of better services, better care for people, and measurably improved outcomes. In a complex operating environment, this is a challenging ask. In the context of extreme workforce pressures and recovery from the pandemic, the challenge is even greater.
This toolkit aims to support leaders as they navigate this process. The content and approaches in the toolkit have been developed by drawing on the experiences of NHS Providers, Newton, and the insights of health and care leaders in different parts of England involved in the design and delivery of integrated care at a local level.
There is not a particular model for integration at place; appropriate models will vary based on local needs and contexts. The toolkit sets out an approach to change focused on pursuing measurable improvements in outcomes and shares some examples of integrated approaches which show success or promise.
