NHS reform

The direction of travel outlined by the Government in its white paper, Integration and Innovation: Working Together to Improve Health and Social Care for All, is broadly supported by our members.

The experience of recent years, and especially the pandemic, have shown the very real benefits of collaboration within the NHS and also with other public services. Our members are clear that the complex challenges facing the health and care sector over the coming years will require ever-closer collaboration, risk-sharing and flexibility, which the proposed legislation will facilitate.

However, over the course of several member events and private discussions, our members have voiced concerns over four key issues – these are outlined below. Sitting above these specific concerns is a general view among our members that the forthcoming legislation should aim to be as permissive as possible.

1. The increased powers for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care over the NHS, including over service reconfigurations. 
2. Governance and accountability, including how putting integrated care systems on a statutory footing will impact on the statutory responsibilities of NHS trusts and foundation trusts.
3. The duty to collaborate and how it will operate in practice.
4. The pace and timescales of the reforms and their implementation, especially as the NHS attempts to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

We will continue to engage the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement and other parts of government in order to ensure that our members concerns are addressed in the legislation.