Department of Health and Social Care: Neighbourhood health framework (17 March 2026)

Summary

The 10 Year Health Plan for England envisions a major shift from hospital to community, towards the creation of a Neighbourhood Health Service. This is intended to bring care into local communities, convene professionals into patient-centred teams and end fragmentation. This policy paper, published by the Department of Health and Social Care, sets out how Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), local authorities, health and wellbeing boards and other partners should create and deliver neighbourhood health services.

Content

Neighbourhood health puts the person at the centre of how we deliver their health and care by organising services so they can work together to serve a defined population. This policy paper describes the aims of this approach as follows:

Improve people’s health and care outcomes, reduce health inequalities and help them stay well at home

This will be done by:

• focusing on prevention and proactive care management, including using data to effectively manage risk and prevent escalation
• strengthening primary and community services
• working better with specialists traditionally based in hospitals, public health, adult and children’s social care, VCSEs and other partners.

Organise services around the person with more convenient, personalised and joined-up care

Orientate services around a person’s needs, rather than organisational convenience. A strong digital approach will be critical to this. This includes:

• improving access to care (by phone, online or in person)
• moving more outpatient care from hospitals into neighbourhoods
• improving continuity of care for those with longer-term needs
• more effectively co-ordinating services for those with the most complex needs, for example, those at end of life.

Reduce pressure on more acute services - including hospitals and care homes

This will be done by:

• using effective neighbourhood working to decrease avoidable hospital admissions or attendances and facilitate timely discharge
• reducing the de-conditioning that happens to many people when they spend time in hospital
• reducing avoidable care home admissions
• ensuring acute services are focused on those who need them most.

Cut waste and duplication

This will be done by:

• integrating services across health, local government and wider partners
• making full use of digital opportunities
• ensuring the NHS is more sustainable.