Health and care systems continue to experience a wide range of challenges, particularly meeting financial recovery targets and addressing urgent and emergency care pressures, with the aim of avoiding yet another difficult winter. The formation of Integrated Care Boards in 2022 was an important milestone in the health and care system’s transformation journey from a series of organisations working in silos, to a system of networked organisations that act in concert to leverage their assets for the benefit of the local population. The main purpose of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) is to improve the health outcomes of their local population, as well as improve experience, access, and value for money.
Often services need to be redesigned – transformed using digital enablers and integrated around user needs to achieve these aims. Population health management is the driver – using data to understand local needs and working together at-scale to deliver targeted support and prevent poor health. Building a strong out-of-hospital sector supports a sustainable system and helps tackle immediate challenges like poor ambulance response times, A&E waits, and elective backlogs. Over time, systems will want to embed a single shared approach to quality management and improvement to drive coherent action on the problems of today and the transformation needed for the future.
