Peterborough city council Cabinet backs plans to replace Clinical Commissioning Groups with new health system

The Cabinet of Peterborough City Council has approved a new Integrated Care System (ICS) to replace NHS CCGs.

Clinical commissioning groups are planned to be absorbed into new integrated care systems by the end of 2021, and will be statutorily dissolved and replaced by the new ICS in 2022.

ICSs bring together NHS, local authority and other bodies to take on responsibility for the resources and health of an area or ‘system’. Their aim is to deliver better, more integrated care for patients. If the Government’s Health and Care bill goes ahead as planned, CCGs will be absorbed into ICSs.

At the first meeting of the New Year (10 January) the Cabinet heard from Cllr Irene Walsh, Cabinet member for Integrated Adult Social Care, Health and Public Health, said: “The governments’ new Integrated care systems (ICSs) are geographically based partnerships, generally in a population area of 1 million people or more

“They will bring together providers and commissioners of NHS services with 73 local authorities and other local partners to plan, co-ordinate, and commission health and care services.

“They’re part of a fundamental shift in the way the current health and care system is organised, with a concerted effort to move away from the competition and organisational autonomy that we have seen in the past and move more towards collaboration with health and care organisations working together to integrate services and thereby improve population health.

“ICSs have been developing for several years under the banner of Sustainable Transformation Partnerships (STPs), and the new Health and Care Bill will put them on a statutory footing from July 2022.

“At that time, Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will cease to exist, and contracts and funding commitments will all become the responsibility of the ICS.

“This is being done for four reasons – the ICS is looking to achieve: improve the outcomes in population health and health care; tackle the inequalities in outcomes, experience and access; enhance productivity and value for money; and help the NHS support broader social and economic development.”

Cllr Ray Bisby, Cabinet member for Children’s Services, Education, Skills, and the University wanted to know ‘how collaborating as an ICS will help health and care organisations tackle complex challenges in a way that CCGs didn’t do?’.

Cllr Walsh responded: “It is expected that the ICS will improve the health of children and young people by supporting people to stay well and independent, acting sooner rather than later to help those with preventable conditions, and supporting those with long term conditions or mental health issues.

“In addition, the ICS will care for those with multiple needs as populations age and will get the best from collective resources so people receive the care they require – as much as they need it – as quickly as possible.”

The recommendations to the Cabinet were unanimously approved and now go forward to the Full Council for final approval when they meet on 26 January 2022.