30.01.15
11 new Integrated Care and Support Pioneers announced
The Integrated Care and Support Pioneers programme, set up to test new ways to join up care, has been expanded into 11 new areas, the Department for Health has announced.
Launched in December 2013, the five-year programme aims to make health and social care services work together to provide better support at home and earlier treatment in the community to prevent people needing emergency care in hospital or care homes.
Fourteen localities were originally chosen to pioneer new approaches, supported by national partners. This has now been expanded to 25 localities. The new integrated care pioneer areas are:
- Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven
- Fylde Coast
- Camden
- Greater Manchester
- Nottingham (City)
- Nottinghamshire
- Sheffield
- South Somerset
- Vale of York
- Wakefield
- West Norfolk
Care minister Norman Lamb said: “Through the original pioneers we have already seen the difference joining up health and care can have in reducing unnecessary emergency admissions and helping people to live independently for longer. I hope these new pioneers will do the same for their local community.”
“We know we need to work differently to respond to our growing ageing population - our £5.3bn Better Care Fund, the biggest ever national programme to join up health and care, will focus resources on helping people to live independently, which will save money and reduce unnecessary hospital admissions.
“These 14 visionary local areas have stepped up to develop innovative ways to manage care around people’s needs and improved the health and wellbeing of their communities – I hope other areas will follow their example.”
The first annual report for the Integrated Care Pioneers Programme sets out the experiences of the first 14 areas to take part in the programme, providing examples of best practise to help other areas to develop innovative ways of joining up their health and social care services.
Announcing the original pioneers, in November 2013, Jane Cummings, chief nursing officer at NHS England, said: “We need a health and social care system that is truly seamless so that people receive the right care and support at the right time, in the right place.
“At the same time, services are under intense and growing pressure and to succeed, we need radical transformation. We need to embrace and develop innovative solutions and truly integrated multi-agency working so that local health and social care systems work as a whole to respond to and meet the needs of people who use health and care services.”
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