Let's get together
Summary
In 2015, CIPFA held a series of roundtable discussions to identify potential obstacles to successful integration and how those might be overcome. The conclusions emerging suggest, if the best is to be made of such integration, both the Government and local health and social care players need to act now.
Format
PDF
Published
Oct
Author
CIPFA
FREE
With health and social care finances under increasing pressure and little sign that the government can afford to pump in the additional resources which would be needed to maintain historic arrangements, the integration of health with social care – allied to devolution – has emerged as the great hope.
However, local health and social care providers don’t yet have a secure basis for medium-term planning. Without that there is a danger that the promising start represented by the Better Care Fund (BCF), the Greater Manchester and Cornwall devolution initiatives and pilots linked to the five-year forward plan for the NHS will be dissipated.
In 2015, CIPFA held a series of roundtable discussions – principally with finance directors from health and social care, supplemented by academics and relevant professionals from other disciplines – with the aim of identifying the potential obstacles to successful integration and how those might be overcome.
This Insight outlines the conclusions and possible ways forward for health and social care authorities.