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DHSC White Paper on Health & Social Care Integration – Several Ideas in Search of Money & Staff

Last Updated on 20/10/2023 by Samantha Lewis

BHTA responds to the latest government white paper on health and social care integration

[Feb, 2022. London, UK] On the 9th Feb 2022, the Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) published a white paper, Health & Social Care Integration – Joining Up Care for People, Places and Populations that “sets out measures to make integrated health and social care a universal reality for everyone across England, regardless of their condition and of where they live.” 

The paper seeks to put more meat on the bones of the Government’s 10-year vision for adult social care, People at the Heart of Care (01-Dec-21),  which provided the first look at health & social care proposals that will be funded by the £1.8bn-per-year increase earmarked for social care from the imminent (01-Apr-22) 1.25% rise in NIC levy (£5.4bn total over three years).

We welcome several of the aims set out in the white paper, including:

  • Plans for data sharing (Section 4) across the NHS and local authorities so that service-delivery is faster, less fragmented, and frees patients from having to repeat the same information to multiple caregivers (with a goal to have digital, shared care records for all by 2024; this is especially important for those suffering from complex and/or multiple diseases and disorders).  Past NHS IT and data projects, however, have almost always proven more complex, expensive, and disruptive than anticipated and we support the call from the Alzheimer’s Society to ensure that plans in this area do not interfere with the urgent need for critical, non-emergency services to return to normal.
  • A focus on outcomes not outputs (Section 2) for organisations across health and social care, with implementation of shared outcomes to begin from April 2023.  There are already encouraging examples of as-was Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)/emerging Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) working toward shared goals, designed with citizen-input and grounded in the needs of local populations.  We support these consultative and locally-driven approaches, which have long been called for by the NHS Confederation and others.

We’re less sanguine about plans for single-local-leader accountability for delivery of shared outcomes at the “place” level within ICSs, and goals to “encourage” NHS and local authorities to do more to align and pool budgets (Section 3).  Both of these ambitions are highly susceptible to a weakness highlighted in the white paper – past “[over]reliance on relationships and ‘soft’ levers, [which] can work well in areas where there are strong relationships, but are vulnerable to changes in leadership,” and are not back-stopped by structural accountabilities (p. 26).  No alternatives or augmentations to address these vulnerabilities (outlined cogently by NHS Providers) are suggested – and, as the Health Foundation points out, “better integration between services is no replacement for properly funding them; the social care system in England is on its knees and central government funding over the coming years is barely enough to meet growing demand, let alone expand and improve the system.”

Most concerning of all, however, is the lack of detailed attention to the health and social care workforce (Section 5).  There is a welcome show of support for training and development of staff (in social care), but no consideration of the broader panoply of workforce issues (vast vacancies, difficulty in recruiting/retaining staff, lack of incentives to choose health and social care as profession), as illustrated by a chorus of responses to the white paper:

  • “There was no mention of a national workforce plan [. . .] and integration must encompass and involve the whole of the social care sector from local authority commissioners, through to voluntary and  small and medium enterprise (SME) providers of care.” (Skills for Care)
  • “More integration is little good if there aren’t enough staff to deliver services – staffing shortages in health and social care are chronic, yet Government has no long-term plan to address them.” (The Health Foundation)

Many would point out that integrating health and social care – both as a large-scale ambition and as an actual, on-the-ground occurrence in certain parts of the UK – is not new.  And, indeed, the paper is shot through with examples of successful integration projects and programmes already underway.  The rest of the paper sets out some admirable ambitions to promote closer integration of health and care, and rightly acknowledges that there is no single, one-size-fits-all approach.  But again, as BHTA highlighted in our comment on the Government’s 10-year vision for adult social care, if the goal is to join up care across people, places and populations, a detailed, actionable plan is required – and this paper is still more “journey-planner” than an actual plan.

On this point we echo the sentiments of the NHS Confederation: This is the latest in a long line of white papers over recent decades that have tried to better integrate services [and] the critical question, therefore, is ‘What will this white paper enable which cannot already be done?’  The answer to this appears to be ‘very little’.”

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Getting to grips with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs)

Government white papers, announcements, and consultations increasingly refer to Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and their component parts – Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and Integrated Care Partnerships (ICPs) – which are set to replace Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in the Government’s reorganisation of the health and care system. BHTA has produced a guide to these groups and changes, including the Government’s most recent guidance (dated 15-Sep-21).


BHTA Policy and Parliamentary Executive William Lee

William Lee, Head of Policy and Compliance at the British Healthcare Trades Association

With over 25 years of policy and advocacy experience, William Lee has spent much of his working life championing the needs of vulnerable communities at US & UK NGOs and governments. He is responsible for the research, development and dissemination of policy, strategy, parliamentary and technical information to BHTA members, and supports with the association’s important stakeholder engagement.


Notes for editors

About the BHTA: Representing over 400 companies in the healthcare and assistive technology industry, the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) brings the industry together to help shape and improve the health and care of the nation. All BHTA members are committed to adhering to the Association’s Code of Practice – the only code in the industry approved by The Chartered Trading Standards Institute. https://www.bhta.com/what-we-do/

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About the CTSI: The BHTA Code of Practice – the first for consumers in the healthcare industry – is approved under the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI)’s Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, ensuring all BHTA member companies trade ethically and professionally.


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