READ OUR ICS RECOMENDATIONS
What’s happening next?
A new Bill has been introduced in Parliament with reforms expected to happen in 2022. The NHS will also develop guidance on how these changes are implemented.
We support the aim to encourage greater collaboration between healthcare partners, improve the wellbeing of local communities, and improve patient care and safety. However, legislation alone will not guarantee success and how changes are implemented and supported on the ground will be key.
There are still questions about the detail of future changes and how this might work in practice, in particular around leadership and governance, clinical and patient engagement, and future changes to commissioning. Delivering integrated health and care services throughout England will also depend on investment in our workforce and a long-overdue upgrade to digital infrastructure.
With health and care staff already feeling the strain from the pandemic, implementation must minimise further disruption. We’ve called for early engagement with patient and professional groups, as well as the wider health and care system, to help make the changes a success.
Sharing your case studies
We want to help showcase the work of pharmacy teams in delivering patient care across the health service.
We want to hear from you about how pharmacists and pharmacy teams are supporting new ways of working and how others can learn from these examples.
If you have a case study you want to share, you can either download this template and email us or fill in this form online.
Join our ICS pharmacy leads forum
We’d love to hear from pharmacy leaders about how you’re engaging with these changes and what they mean for you. If you’re involved in leading pharmacy across an ICS, are interested in helping shape our work on pharmacy and integrated care, or if you have a great example of putting this into practice, email Ravi Sharma, Director for England at [email protected].
Later this year we’ll also be rolling out RPS Connect, a brand new digital service for members providing you with opportunities to grow your professional network, share best practice, and inform policy development.
Find out more
RPS submission to the Health and Social Care Committee
RPS response to draft design principles on clinical and care professional leadership
King’s Fund: The health and social care White Paper explained
NHS England: Integrated Care Systems - design framework
NHS England: Leading integrated pharmacy and medicines optimisation
HEE e-learning: Introduction to Integrated Care Systems