Published by – Local Government Association

Author – Ben Richardson, Carnall Farrer

Date of publication – April 2016

A must read all involved in or planning whole system integration. Click here to read the report in full.

I have to confess a bias here. This report was published at a time when I was working with a client to recommend how they go forward with integration. I’d been trawling through the information out there and getting frustrated that it was all a bit vague and fragmented. Then this report lands and does a great job in collating and analysing the state of play using seven case studies. It feels quite health focused and there isn’t much about communities and empowerment although it does note in passing that the focus of integration “is going beyond a narrow definition of health and care services to encompass more preventative approaches which draw on the full range of assets and services in a place, including services such as housing and employment as well as social and community activity.”

It is, as it says, the first attempt at mapping the case studies. It does more than that though – there is a maturity matrix (see page 10), a very useful table showing the length of time of the integration journeys (page 16) and many insights throughout.

… in some areas significant impact has been achieved through integrated care approaches. The extent to whether or not this impact has been achieved is closely related to whether or not there have been any changes in the flow of money and information or in governance arrangements.

People will pick up on different elements that resonate with them. For me it was the strong message that leadership, robust governance and changes in financial flows are critical. These are all elements that we focus on in alliance development so I’ll second that.