Council approves plans for more joined up health and social care

Plans to better join up the way health and care services are delivered have been approved by Nottingham City Council.

A meeting of the Full Council on Monday agreed the city should formally be part of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) with the NHS.

This new partnership will be better placed to make decisions on how best to improve the care of citizens, as part of a series of changes to the health system in the city.

The new NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board was established on 1 July to bring together all of the Clinical Commissioning Groups locally as part of an Integrated Care System.

The Council is working with the Integrated Care Board, Nottinghamshire County Council and independent and third sector providers to agree the strategy and direction for the Integrated Care System as a whole.

This means that decisions about how to spend the NHS budget will be jointly made by doctors, nurses and managers from the NHS and local councils.

Catherine Underwood, Director of People Services at Nottingham City Council, who sits on the Integrated Care Board, welcomed the new way of working with the NHS and other partners.

She said: ‘I am delighted to be a member of the Integrated Care Board and to be a part of the Integrated Care Partnership. This is a once in a generation opportunity for us to integrate services to improve health and care in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.

‘We proved during the Covid-19 pandemic that our citizens benefit from better care when local authorities and the NHS work closely together. I believe we can build on this strong foundation to create more joined-up services that will better meet the needs of our local population.’

In related news, care providers have reacted angrily to further delays to promised social care reform and called on candidates in the Prime Minister race to make social care a priority.

Photo by Georg Arthur Pflueger