Partnership board responds positively to government plans for integrated care

The BSW Partnership has set out comprehensive programme of work it will tackle over the coming months in order to make further progress with its plans to integrate health and care across the local area. 

The plans come in response to the recently published government white paper outlining how health and care services will be integrated in the future. The BSW Partnership plans set out a roadmap for how the Partnership will develop before the proposals become law in April 2022. 

The white paper sets out a number of proposals which will mark a significant change to the way health and care services are organised locally. 

Key proposals will see Integrated Care Systems established on a statutory footing through both an ICS NHS Board and a separate ICS Health and Care Partnership. 

They will also mean ICS NHS bodies will be accountable for the health outcomes for its population, NHS spend and performance within the system, strategic planning, and taking on the commissioning functions of Clinical Commissioning Groups and some of those of NHS England within its footprint.

Areas of focus for the BSW Partnership over the coming months include developing a new care model, launching a development and training academy for staff to help build the skills needed to continue to integrate health and care, developing partnership structures and focusing on financial sustainability. 

Tracey Cox, Senior Responsible Officer for the BSW Partnership said the local health and care system was in a good position in terms of its ongoing development as an ICS. 

“Our overall assessment is that we are well placed to meet the expectations of what it takes to operate as a fully functioning and well developed ICS, although there is a lot of work to do over the next six months in order to reach that position.

“That’s why we have developed a clear plan of priorities to tackle over the coming months. Through working jointly with partners across the system, we are confident this plan will get us to where we want to be – a thriving partnership working to improve the health and wellbeing of local people, tackling health and care inequalities, reforming the quality and experience of care and supporting broader economic and social development.”