Government publishes framework for delivery of neighbourhood health service

Writing in the foreword to the Neighbourhood Health Framework publication, Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock said: “Neighbourhood health will only work as a joint endeavour between the NHS and local authorities, alongside wider partners. We expect this to be a truly collaborative effort between all partners, combining the NHS’s responsibility for our health services with local authorities’ responsibility for adult and children’s social care services and public health. This will foster a true partnership for the benefit of all citizens to ensure we achieve the left shift from hospital to community, and sickness to prevention.”

The document – along with forthcoming NHS England guidance for population health delivery models – sets out the first three of the four changes outlined in the NHS England's Medium Term Planning Framework:

• creating the archetypes so local systems have the governance structures to help neighbourhood health succeed
• delivering guidance to create both a common description of neighbourhood health and a common set of outcomes and metrics to help define success
• developing early financial incentives to support local systems to accelerate change
• establishing a new approach to joint working across NHS and local government leaders, including more collaborative strategic commissioning that will help to "hard-wire" the establishment of neighbourhood health now and into the future.

These changes will be supported by the development of integrated care boards (ICBs) into strategic commissioners and a new collaborative way of working with local authorities.

Kinnock wrote: “All of this is designed to create the conditions through which local leaders can succeed in delivering their ambitions for neighbourhood health, and wherever possible, remains light touch and flexible.

“The aim is to support greater consistency by building on existing best practice. At the same time, where neighbourhood health is scarce, the guidance is designed to support local leaders to accelerate the creation of provision.”

He added that the Government will build and upgrade 250 new neighbourhood health centres, which will “be seen as the place to go for most health needs in every community”.