How can Ireland mobilise social care community networks across the island to better support people to live healthily and ‘age in place’ throughout the life course?

Population aging is a phenomenon affecting almost every developed country worldwide and one that is increasingly prevalent in many of the globe’s most advanced economies such as Japan, USA and Europe. In seeking to address the impact of this issue, policy-makers are often heavil  focussed on the social and economic consequences of aging populations, such as a reduction in economic growth or increased pressures on public expenditure. However some have argued that policy should instead be more future-focussed, supporting states to build greater resilience to demographic changes and ensuring resources are redistributed to maintain wellbeing across the life course.

Promoting Integrated Care Across the World

The long-term impacts of new care models on hospital use: An evaluation of the Integrated Care Transformation Programme in Mid-Nottinghamshire

In this briefing, the Improvement Analytics Unit – a partnership between the Health Foundation and NHS England and NHS Improvement – has found evidence that integrated care programmes have the potential to reduce hospital utilisation and that the best results are delivered when new ways of working start to become embedded.   

It is important that the analysis was?able to?look?at the impact of the programme?over such a long time. Integrated care programmes usually aim to reduce hospital admissions, however previous?evaluations?were not able to demonstrate?whether reductions in hospital use might begin to materialise over a longer period ...

Closing the gap: Key areas for action on the health and care workforce

Staffing is the make-or-break issue for the NHS in England. Workforce shortages are already having a direct impact on patient care and staff experience. Urgent action is now required to avoid a vicious cycle of growing shortages and declining quality. The workforce implementation plan to be published later this year presents a pivotal opportunity to do this. In this joint report with the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation, they set out a series of policy actions that, evidence suggests, should be at the heart of the workforce implementation plan. They focus on nursing and general practice, where the workforce ...

1st Transnational Conference on Integrated Community Care: "Making the case for Integrated Community Care"

This is a synthesis report of conference documents, discussions and learnings of the first conference in Hamburg, “Making the case for integrated community care”. This conferences aimed to develop a common understanding of the meaning of integrated community care and demonstrate through evidence the positive impact integrated community care can have on tackling inequalities, improving care experiences and care outcomes. This included the exploration of essential design elements in the provision of integrated community care that make the approach successful.

The multispecialty community provider (MCP) emerging care model and contract framework

Across the country, NHS leaders have been developing sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) to implement the NHS Five Year Forward View. Nearly all of the STPs involve creating new models of accountable care provision.  Some are planning MCPs, others the bigger primary and acute care systems (PACS) model, under which all hospital services are also included under a single  form of integrated provision. The underlying logic of an MCP is that by focusing on prevention and redesigning care, it is possible to improve health and wellbeing, achieve better quality, reduce  avoidable hospital admissions and elective activity, and unlock more efficient ...

Integrated primary and acute care systems (PACS) - Describing the care model and the business model

A new framework to help local areas establish a single primary and acute care system (PACS) has been published by NHS England. Under a PACS, hospital, primary, community, mental health and social care services align their goals and incentives to improve the health and wellbeing of the population.

The announcement comes following the publication in July of a framework for the multispecialty community provider (MCP) model.

Making sense of integrated care systems, integrated care partnerships and accountable care organisations in the NHS in England

NHS England has recently changed the name of accountable care systems to integrated care systems, which describes more accurately the work being done in the 10 areas of England operating in this way. These updated long read looks at work under way in these systems and at NHS England´s proposals for an accountable care organization contract

Communities and health

The role of communities in improving health is receiving increasing, and long overdue, attention in health policy and practice. Stronger recognition of the role communities can play and greater involvement are needed if there is to be a successful move to population health systems. As part of this shift in focus, sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems need to take the role communities can play in improving and sustaining good health seriously. 

Reimagining community services: making the most of our assets

The purpose of this research was to understand the current state of community services and to explore how the health and care systems needs to change to enable these to meet the needs of the population now and in the future