Health and social care to be fully joined-up by 2018

Later today Norman Lamb, the care and support minister, is to reveal plans for health and social care to be fully joined-up up by 2018.

Joined-up health and community care is not currently the norm, instead people often receive disjointed care and face a number of inconveniences, including having to repeat their story every time they use a new service, older people being discharged from hospitals to homes not adapted to their needs and patients not receiving the support they need because information is not being shared between departments and services. The Government wants to put an end to this and the plans demonstrate its commitment to making coordinated health and care services a reality.

The plans, which include the first ever agreed definition of what people say good integrated care and support looks and feels like, will be delivered by a variety of national leaders, including NHS England, Monitor, and Health Education England. The new system, which will save money and make services more efficient, will be particularly beneficial for older people, their families and carers.

Mr Lamb said: “People don’t want health care or social care, they just want the best care. This is a vital step in creating a truly joined-up system that puts people first.

“Unless we change the way we work, the NHS and care system is heading for a crisis.

“This national commitment to working together is an important moment in ensuring we have a system which is fit for the future.”

Mr Lamb’s announcement will see the publication of the first ever system-wide ‘shared commitment’, which demonstrates how national leaders of health and social care have come together to help make integration possible in local areas.

Sir Merrick Cockell, chair of the Local Government Association, said: “As the providers of social care and now public health, the councils have a key role to play in integrating services to both improve the quality of care and support that people receive and help find new ways of addressing the long-standing concerns around the future funding of care services.

“In order to achieve this we absolutely need to put real people of all ages, from children and young people to those with long term and multiple conditions, at the heart of everything we do. It is their voices and experiences that can help us create the person-centred services urgently needed to revolutionise care in this country.

“Health and Wellbeing Boards, as the core local decision makers across health and care, are crucial to this process and can provide a platform to ensure that public money is used effectively across the NHS and local government to tackle the wider health needs of our communities.”

The plans have been welcomed by a number of organisations, including partner group Public Health England. Duncan Selbie, chief executive, said: “Public Health England welcomes and supports local innovations to find alternatives to hospital-based care, especially for the frail elderly.

“It is one of our priorities to work with national partners to identify and share best practice on the contribution of prevention and early intervention to person-centred care and we will be working with local areas which are pioneering innovative approaches to integrating health and social care to tackle the barriers to progress.”