At the request of Norman Lamb, the Care and Support Minister, The King’s Fund hosted a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders early in November to consider what needs to be done to make a reality of integrated care.
Participants at the discussion were clear that an immediate priority is to promote the widespread adoption of best practice. Examples include the use of care planning and case managers to help people with complex needs navigate their way around health and social care services, and provide a single point of access to these services. Increased take up of personal health budgets in appropriate cases will also help people to take more control over their lives, for example by accessing the support they need to live independently.
Another priority, already recognised by the government, is to develop ways of measuring the experience of patients and service users in order to assess whether care is co-ordinated around their needs. A person-centred measure of integrated care is urgently needed to understand how well services perform and identify priorities for action. Agreement is now needed on the survey questions that should be used to derive such a measure and how the results will be used to support improvements in performance.
It is essential that organisations at a national level work together to support integrated care. There are encouraging signs in this regard in the work being done by the NHS Commissioning Board, Monitor and the Care Quality Commission to work towards a common approach and to engage with the Local Government Association and Public Health England in the process. The national policy framework on integrated care expected in the spring will provide a clear indication of how these organisations will work with each other and the Department of Health to turn the commitments on integrated care included in the Mandate into benefits for patients and users on the ground.
Participants at the discussion were clear that there is no one best way of developing integrated care and the emphasis should be placed on discovery and not design in taking forward policy in this area. There was strong support for the suggestion that integrated care should be developed at scale and pace by enabling a number of areas of the country to test out different approaches. These areas would be encouraged to innovate in the use of payment systems and contracting mechanisms, and they would be allowed to suspend rules that get in the way of progress.
Another priority, already recognised by the government, is to develop ways of measuring the experience of patients and service users in order to assess whether care is co-ordinated around their needs. A person-centred measure of integrated care is urgently needed to understand how well services perform and identify priorities for action. Agreement is now needed on the survey questions that should be used to derive such a measure and how the results will be used to support improvements in performance.
It is essential that organisations at a national level work together to support integrated care. There are encouraging signs in this regard in the work being done by the NHS Commissioning Board, Monitor and the Care Quality Commission to work towards a common approach and to engage with the Local Government Association and Public Health England in the process. The national policy framework on integrated care expected in the spring will provide a clear indication of how these organisations will work with each other and the Department of Health to turn the commitments on integrated care included in the Mandate into benefits for patients and users on the ground.
Participants at the discussion were clear that there is no one best way of developing integrated care and the emphasis should be placed on discovery and not design in taking forward policy in this area. There was strong support for the suggestion that integrated care should be developed at scale and pace by enabling a number of areas of the country to test out different approaches. These areas would be encouraged to innovate in the use of payment systems and contracting mechanisms, and they would be allowed to suspend rules that get in the way of progress.
- See our work on integrated care
- Find out more about our forthcoming event on person-centred integrated care
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