Integrated Care Systems (ICS’s)
Suffolk & North East Essex ICS
The Health and Care Act 2022 created a statutory basis for Integrated Care Systems and established Integrated Care Boards and Integrated Care Partnerships across England from 1st July 2022.
The Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (SNEE ICB) will become operational and legally established from July 1, 2022, meaning the closer working between health and social care partners for the good of local communities.
From this date NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk, NHS West Suffolk and NHS North East Essex clinical commissioning groups (the CCGs) will be abolished.
The creation of SNEE ICB follows the Government’s Health and Care Act 2022, which aims to make it easier for health and care organisations to deliver joined-up care for people who rely on multiple different services.
It will take on all the planning and commissioning functions previously held by the three CCGs, and from July 1, 2023 will additionally take on commissioning responsibility for some other services, e.g. NHS dentistry, currently commissioned by NHS England.
The SNEE ICB geographical area covers all of Suffolk, except Waveney, and north east Essex with a population of approximately 978,000.
Integrated Care Partnership
Is a statutory committee, bringing together a broad alliance of organisations and representatives concerned with improving the care, health and wellbeing of the population, jointly convened by local authorities and the NHS. The Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) provides a forum for NHS leaders and local authorities to come together, as equal partners, with important stakeholders from across the system and community. Together, the ICP will generate an integrated care strategy to improve health and care outcomes and experiences for their populations, for which all partners will be accountable. ICPs will be required to develop an integrated care strategy to address the broad health and social care needs of the population within the ICP’s area, including determinants of health such as employment, environment, and housing issues. ICBs and local authorities will be required by law to have regard to the ICP’s strategy when making decisions, commissioning and delivering services. Click here to learn more about the Suffolk and North East Essex ICP.
Integrated Care Board
The Integrated Care Board (ICB) of this system is NHS Suffolk and North East Essex. It is a statutory body, that is responsible for commissioning healthcare services in the ICS area, bringing the NHS together locally to improve population health and care. The ICB takes on the NHS planning functions previously held by CCGs plus new responsibilities delegated from NHS England and NHS Improvement. Each ICB will produce a five-year plan for how NHS services will be delivered to meet local needs and this plan must take account of an integrated care strategy, setting out how the wider health needs of the local population should be met. The website for NHS Suffolk and North East Essex can be found here.
SNEE Pharmacy Workforce Strategy
The ‘Can Do’ SNEE Pharmacy Workforce Strategy was adopted by the ICS in October 2022. It was devised in response to the significant strain on pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other team members and the need for a joined-up approach in Suffolk and North East Essex (SNEE) to address current and future workforce challenges.
Norfolk and Waveney ICS
For Waveney contractors we liaise directly with Norfolk and Waveney ICS. However, through a federated agreement with Norfolk LPC, Tony Dean (LPC Chief Officer) and Lauren Seamons (Deputy Chief Officer) attend most of the Norfolk and Waveney ICS meetings and work with Suffolk LPC Officers on any initiatives that affect Waveney Contractors. This includes briefing relevant Officers prior to meetings, feeding back meeting outcomes and working together as appropriate to ensure the best contractor representation. This improves representation across both ICS footprints, reduces duplication and ensures the best use of contractor resources.
Link to their website is here.
NHS East of England Partnership Strategy for Community Pharmacy
The NHS East-of-England-Partnership-Strategy-for-Community-Pharmacy was signed off in December 2022 by NHS England in partnership with Integrated Care Boards.
The 5-year rolling Strategy has been produced in collaboration with systems, Local Pharmaceutical Committees and other key stakeholders.
Joint working is the aim of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridge & Peterborough LPC’s to manage workload and produce better outcomes for contractors. This occurs at all levels of operation and allows better representation of Community Pharmacy with STPs, Health Education England, NHS England and other regional and national organisations.