The North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care System and Integrated Care Partnerships
The North East and North Cumbria (NENC) Integrated Care System (ICS) is a regional partnership between the NHS, local authorities and others, taking collective responsibility for resources, setting strategic objectives and care standards, and improving the health of the 3.1 million people it serves. The NHS Long Term Plan published in January 2019 sets out clear expectations for all Integrated Care Systems.
Our ICS is a collaboration of NHS commissioners and providers, and our partners, and not a new organisation with statutory powers. The majority of our work is focused in places and neighbourhoods; but, alongside this, our ICS provides a mechanism to build consensus on those issues that need to be tackled at scale.
The NENC ICS is focussed on ‘at scale’ priorities that multiplies our collective impact around overarching clinical strategy and clinical networks, strategic commissioning (e.g. for ambulance services) and shared policy development. It is supported by four Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs).
In County Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland, NHS organisations have come together, working with local authorities, to lead and plan care for their population in a coordinated way as the Durham, South Tyneside and Sunderland Integrated Care Partnership (ICP).
NHS County Durham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is one of the NHS partners in the NENC ICS which has agreed to work together at scale where it makes most sense to do so and to protect and emphasise the importance of ‘place’ – local accountability to local populations and the ability to respond to local needs.
We will be working across three levels of scale:
- Place – populations of circa 150,000 to 500,000 people will be the main focus for partnership working between the NHS and local authorities. In these areas, Primary Care Networks (providing services to populations of circa 30,000-50,000 people) will support collaboration between GP practices, social care, other community based care providers and voluntary sector organisations.
- Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) – populations of around one million (with the exception of North Cumbria, which has unique geographical and demographic features), focused on collaboration across NHS hospital trusts, to ensure safe and sustainable services.
- Integrated Care System – a population of circa 3.1 million people, focussed on ‘at scale’ activity that achieves efficiencies.
For more information see NHS Join Our Journey