Lewisham hails joint commissioning deal with local NHS as "significant milestone"

Lewisham Council has reached an agreement with NHS Lewisham that will see the two organisations jointly commission adult health and social care services in the borough.

The two parties described the agreement as a “significant milestone” in the ongoing development of their partnership.

In a statement, they said the new joint commissioning arrangements would “improve the ability of both partners to design services around the needs of services users, rather than from the perspective of meeting the council’s and NHS Lewisham’s statutory obligations in respect of social care and health”.

The agreement will see the creation of an overall fund for health and social care needs, improving the ability of the parties’ ability to manage budgets more effectively.

Sir Steve Bullock, the Mayor of Lewisham, said the arrangements would provide much greater flexibility in providing for people’s needs. “Not only does it promise to deliver better services, but increased value for money,” he added.

The chief executive of NHS Lewisham, Gil Galliano, said: “The new agreement builds on our existing practice to work closely with key local organisations. It is altogether a far more efficient, effective and fair way to deliver vital services to some of the most vulnerable people in our community.

“It will allow us to develop more robust and flexible joint commissioning structures and mean we are better placed to respond to the personalisation agenda or any future policy changes.”