Female doctor on a house call listening to the heart of a senior patient with a stethoscope

Financial security holding back ICS progress

A new survey from the NHS Confederation has found that there is a concern among ICS leaders that a lack of long-term investment and planning is holding back their progress.

This progress is related to the government’s ambition to deliver more care in the community, as well as primary care to prevent the worsening of people’s health to ensure that people can be kept out of hospitals.

Whilst this ambition is aiming to stop integrated care systems from becoming stuck in the cycle of budget cuts, leaders have warned that new directives on national priorities are focusing on short-term performance and financial issues, rather than the long-term changes that are required to make the NHS more sustainable.

ICS GRAPHIC

The comprehensive survey identified a number of opinions, including:

  • 90% of leaders say that their local system has made a commitment to shifting the allocation of resources to support more people to be treated in their community
  • Only 54% have said that they have made progress towards this ambition
  • 87% have said that they will not be able to meet their ambitions within their current budgets
  • Around 86% have said that they are concerned that the financial position of their local authority will affect ICS delivery
  • Only four in ten ICS leaders believe that there are well-defined accountabilities between ICSs and NHS England, with this causing confusion when it comes to oversight of performance.

Chair of the NHS Confederation’s ICS Network, Kathy McLean, said:

“ICS leaders are very positive about the impact they are having and the many examples in the report show the progress that is being made. They are committed to delivering their four purposes including shifting care closer to home and reducing inequalities in health outcomes.

“But as this report makes clear there are barriers that the government and NHS England need to help us overcome if this vision is to become a reality.

“Not only do they need more support to bring about these changes, but they need the freedom to focus on the long-term goals necessary to put the health and care system on a sustainable footing.

“ICS leaders accept that short-term performance and financial issues need to be addressed on behalf of their populations. But the focus on NHS finances risks crowding out the longer-term transformation ICSs were established to deliver.”

 

Image credit: iStock

NHE September / October 2024

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