Groundbreaking investigation by The MJ and its sister title Healthcare Management reveal a stark and escalating crisis: Integrated Care Boards collectively owe councils hundreds of millions of pounds. As Matthew Taylor warns, without urgent and radical reform of social care – and a more honest reckoning with the brutal financial realities facing both the NHS and local government – true integration will remain nothing more than a soundbite.
The American industrialist Henry Ford once said: ‘Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.'
When Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) were created, it was hoped the NHS and local government would embody that principle. The idea was simple but ambitious: build trust, share responsibility and deliver better outcomes for patients and the public by working hand in glove.
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