Manchester and NHS England agree plans to merge health and social care budgets
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- Published: Wednesday, 04 March 2015 07:47
- Written by News Editor
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Greater Manchester and NHS England have announced plans around the future of health and social care with a signed memorandum agreeing to bring together health and social care budgets – a combined sum of £6bn. NHS England claims that the plan ‘puts local people in the driving seat for deciding on health and care services. It is not thought to affect dentistry however.
The move sees NHS England, 12 NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, 15 NHS providers and 10 local authorities agree a framework for health and social care – with plans for joint decision-making on integrated care to support physical, mental and social wellbeing. It will also help in the long-term to ease pressure on hospitals – while focusing on services in community that bring health and social care closer to home. The plan has been approved by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Health Secretary.
Integrated care in Greater Manchester will focus more on preventative work in the community – putting strategies in place to keep people well and as independent as possible. For example, people with long-term conditions like asthma or heart conditions will be treated by specialists in the community as much as possible – only going to hospital when necessary.
NHS England has agreed all plans with the Greater Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), NHS providers and local councils to ‘cement a place-based approach to join up health and social care’. NHS England continues: ‘This historic agreement does not require any reorganisation of the NHS or its principles. It also builds on the work of Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and the innovative devolution settlement with Government on November 3 (2014) – and is a significant step closer to the area’s ambition of full devolution of public spending. The Chancellor identified governance and devolution as a key component of his Northern Powerhouse strategy that has paved the way for today’s further devolution.’
The scope of the Memorandum of Understanding includes the entire health and social care system in Greater Manchester, including adult, primary and social care, mental health and community services and public health. The second part of the agreement provides a framework for strategies around governance and regulation, resources and finances, the property estate, health education, workforce and information sharing and systems being brought together.
The memorandum is an outline agreement and more details will follow in due course. From now, Greater Manchester will start making its own decisions and a transitional plan – or roadmap – will come into effect from April 1. This roadmap will provide the foundations for joined up business and investment proposals, along with a joint Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Strategy – until full devolution of health and care services is in place by April 2016.
Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, said: “Strong and aligned local leadership in Greater Manchester means that now is the time for courage and for bold moves to deliver the ambitious agenda set out in the NHS Five Year Forward View. Today’s landmark agreement between NHS England, the local NHS and local government leaders charts a path to the greatest integration and devolution of care funding since the creation of the NHS in 1948. While continuing to deliver on national care standards and the patient rights set out in the NHS Constitution, Greater Manchester now has a unique opportunity for innovation and improvement in health and wellbeing. The eyes of the country will now be on what this new partnership can deliver, and today the work begins.”
Lord Peter Smith, chair of Greater Manchester Combined Authority, said: “This is another defining moment in Greater Manchester’s devolution journey. The scope and nature of this unprecedented agreement means we are proudly breaking new ground once more. “I want to make absolutely clear that this is not, as it has been wrongly portrayed in some quarters, a town hall takeover of Greater Manchester’s NHS budget. We will be working together with our NHS colleagues in the region to make joint decisions which reflect local priorities. Ultimately this will be via a new strategic health and social care partnership board. This is about decisions about Greater Manchester being taken in Greater Manchester in an integrated way, not being taken away from experts.”
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