Over one hundred members joined our recent webinar on Developing Integrated Neighbourhood Working, hosted by Joint CEO Katrina Percy. Katrina, a recognised expert in the field, has been at the forefront of this work since the early 2000s.
She began by explaining that, alongside sharing slides outlining the model and rationale for large-scale integrated team working, and went on to highlight key insights and challenges she and her team are encountering as they travel across the country, supporting Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in adopting and adapting this new approach.
Katrina emphasised that this isn’t just another temporary solution, it is not a sticking plaster. Rather, it is the key to addressing the complex web of multiple teams providing similar services to patients under different banners without the safety net and continuity of care that fully integrated teams can offer. These fragmented services often lead to more handoffs, creating a disjointed and suboptimal patient experience. In one GP practice area, for example, a colleague identified 20 different teams, each with their own budget, delivering similar care to a shared population, yet lacking coordination and collaboration.
Why is it crucial to rethink healthcare delivery?
We face growing demand, increasing patient expectations, and a financial outlook that is unsustainable. To address this, we must find ways to eliminate the inefficiencies and build a more resilient, sustainable healthcare system. The world’s best healthcare systems invest over 50% of their resources in primary and community care, and evidence shows that for every £1 invested the return can be as high as £14, especially when that investment is extended to address the wider determinants of health, enabling primary care, community services, local authorities, and voluntary sector organisations to work together.
The Vision for Integrated Care
Katrina outlined the ideal model, which begins with a defined population and a unified leadership team collectively responsible for both the health and healthcare of that community. For this model to succeed, barriers to working as an autonomous team must be removed, and all staff should be part of the same workforce, enabling them to work proactively and reactively to meet the needs of their community.
However, we know that improving the health of a population requires looking beyond healthcare-funded resources. Merely discussing partnerships in management meetings and claiming to work well together doesn’t drive change on the ground. The focus must be on frontline transformation, starting with building strong, collaborative teams that can thrive. Healthcare delivery begins with general practice, the backbone of community services, and essential connections to specialist services. It’s also most effective when closely integrated with social care, children’s mental health services, and the voluntary sector in the local context.
One of the key “scaffolding” elements to supporting success, Katrina stressed, is investing in leadership and workforce development—ensuring that the right people are equipped with the tools and skills to lead these integrated teams effectively.
The First Steps
The initial step is to bring the team together under dynamic, courageous leadership that embraces agility, innovation, and a shared vision. It’s essential to give the team the space to align around a common purpose, while dismantling the barriers that have been built up over time. Effective and inclusive engagement with all team members is crucial to ensure no one is left behind, and that everyone is ready to embrace the new way of working.
Teams must be given the time and autonomy to design new ways of working that eliminate inefficiencies, including reducing bureaucracy—often driven by practices that merely create an illusion of safety. It’s no surprise that evidence shows a 25% increase in productivity when staff are empowered and bureaucracy is minimised, resulting in better patient outcomes and greater staff satisfaction. By creating more capacity, we can free up time for teams to proactively engage with communities, ultimately improving the health of the population.
Simply asking the right “activation” questions can also encourage patients to take a more active role in managing their health, prompting them to consider lifestyle changes such as improving diet and increasing physical activity, which can lead to better long-term outcomes.
However, the true transformation occurs when health services are fully integrated with local authorities, the third sector, and local businesses. This holistic approach has already proven to make a significant, positive impact in the communities where it has been implemented, demonstrating the power of collaboration across sectors to improve health and well-being.
It’s a wholescale approach and is seen to be making considerable positive impact on the communities where the model has already been adopted.
If you would like to access the full recording and rich conversation that took place, you can sign up to be a member for free here.
Read more about Integrated Neighbourhood Teams here.
