The West Midlands ICS Delivery Forum - Key insights (PPP, 20 June 2023)

Summary

This report summarises the key insights from the Birmingham ICS Delivery Forum event, held in Birmingham in April 2023. It places the discussions that took place into the broader context of health and care transformation, both at a local and national level, and uses wider sources and research to expand upon the key points.

Content

Key messages about the potential role of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs)

• Subvert the health and care system: ICSs present a unique opportunity to refocus and rebalance resources into health prevention, early intervention and reducing levels of health inequality.
• Strive for transformation: ICSs are grappling with unprecedented operational pressures and service demand that can, at times, distract from the ultimate goal of transforming health and care provision. These are not binary choices, as progress in one will advance the other.
• Be patient with public health and prevention: Initiatives to support public health will take time to bed in and prove their value and ICS strategy should account for this fact. Leadership has a role to play in ensuring that organisations are empowered to take localised action on prevention and health inequalities. Taking preventative action should not be considered a distraction from immediate challenges, but rather, the solution to manging demand in the long-term.
• Embed awareness of health inequality at all levels, and throughout every programme: Initiatives addressing health inequality cannot be addressed with siloed efforts, it must be a concept that underpins every level of leadership of an ICSs and be fundamental to the system culture.
• Partnership is essential to unlocking health inequalities and addressing unmet need: As ICSs mature, partnership-based programmes and initiatives are forming an increasing part of ICS strategy to tackle health inequalities and improve population health.
• Use information governance as an enabler of data sharing: ICSs can harness data governance to viability improve longevity of partnerships and provider collaboratives.
• Clarify points of entry across the system: Providers of various sizes, in both public and private sectors are experiencing difficulties in accessing the relevant functions of ICSs. Accordingly, ICSs need to provide greater clarity regarding points of entry into the system.
• Diversify leadership across every level: Diversity of perspectives and professional representation at ICB and ICP level will be crucial to the successful delivery of collaborative, integrated care.