Less than three months since they came into being formally, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are facing huge challenges. Across the south of England and the country, there are record waiting times for emergency and elective care and major difficulties with access to primary care and mental health services.
Social care services are under huge pressure and this is amplifying the problems across the whole health and care system. Public satisfaction levels and positive sentiment towards the NHS have dropped significantly.
As a result, ICBs are having to move straight from the task of setting up new organisations into dealing with enormous operational challenges and planning for an even more challenging winter. In some systems, well-established ways of working between organisations (essential to the integrated approach to health and care) are in place but in others, the structures and ways of working between organisations are very new.
This may feel a long way from the ambitions of ICB leaders to transform the way they work with partners in the system to achieve long-term improvements in the health and care of their populations and to reduce inequalities. Nevertheless, these are the operational challenges that ICBs face right now. And, as one ICB leader said to me the other day, ‘demonstrating that we can deliver this winter is what will earn us the right to shape the future’.
This is the reality for ICB leaders. But it’s also an important part of our reality too. Providing effective support to ICBs and other health and care organisations in this very challenging time will confirm the value that we bring as an organisation and help us earn the ability to work with them as long-term partners so that we can be part of helping them shape their future.
We have a great range of skills as an organisation and it is clear that we are indeed providing a wide range of support that is helping ICBs to address their key current problems. An example is the work SCW recently completed to help Somerset ICB model and understand its challenge with patients waiting 78 weeks or more for surgery. Based on the feedback from customers, it is clear that this work has brought major benefits to Somerset and is now being requested by multiple other ICBs.
We are also exploring ways in which we can routinely share learning more effectively across health and care systems to help us have the greatest possible impact. The challenges facing one ICB are very often replicated across multiple ICBs. So, through our South East and South West Partnership Boards, we are exploring with ICB leaders how we can best support them by taking insights from the work we do for one customer and then sharing this learning with all ICBs across the South of England.
It is a very demanding time for the health and care system but the fantastic range and depth of skills and experience we have within SCW means that we are really well equipped to support the challenges of today and also to work with our customers to help them shape the solutions to tomorrow’s challenges.
If you'd like to talk to us about how we can support you
