NHS locks in benefits of stronger partnerships

The NHS and its partners will be able to ‘lock in’ improvements to their work by putting whole-system planning at the heart of coronavirus recovery plans.

The comments from Amanda Pritchard, Chief Operating Officer at NHS England, followed NHS England and NHS Improvement confirming four new ‘integrated care systems’, together serving more than six million residents.

As part of the effort to respond to the coronavirus health emergency, NHS and local government staff have been fast-tracking new technology, new partnerships and new ways of working, to make services easier and more convenient for residents. Integrated care systems (ICSs) and, in other areas, sustainability and transformation partnerships have been central to the coordination and delivery of this response, bringing together hospitals, care homes, GPs and others to plan for immediate and future needs. This has included important initiatives between NHS and local government, such as mutual aid agreements.

The four new ICSs join the 14 previously announced plus two devolved health systems in Greater Manchester and Surrey. Taken together, around half of England’s population is now served by such a system.

This includes the whole of Yorkshire (with the confirmation of an ICS covering Humber, Coast and Vale) and all of London south of the river Thames (with South West London joining its neighbour in South East London).The two other partnerships confirmed are one covering Sussex, and another in Hertfordshire and West Essex.

Amanda Pritchard, Chief Operating Officer at NHS England, said: “The response to COVID-19 has touched every part of our health and care systems. We have seen our hospitals transformed, accelerated use of technology in GP surgeries, mental health services and hospital clinics, innovation in community-based services and been reminded of our interdependence with social care, and the critical role of public health. The response to the COVID-19 health emergency has been whole-system working and so must be the recovery.

“As well as locking in the improvements we want to keep, we must maintain the agility that has served the NHS so well. Changes that have been debated for years, delivered overnight with strong partnership working. We have acted our way to transformation and better care, and we must continue to do so.”