Since December 2020, health and care services in Norfolk and Waveney have been formally designated as an Integrated Care System (ICS).

In Norfolk and Waveney, we had already achieved a lot by working in partnership, strengthened through our response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes were made possible by different organisations – NHS hospitals, GPs, mental health and community health services, local councils, care homes and social workers, voluntary and community organisations and others – joining forces to agree and plan for local people’s needs.

As a result of the Health and Care Act, the Norfolk and Waveney ICS was given legal status and included a statutory Integrated Care Partnership (ICP), and an Integrated Care Board (ICB) called NHS Norfolk and Waveney.

This exciting way of working created a genuine partnership that has been making and continues to make a positive difference to local people and help join up health and social care. Our work is the culmination of many years of effort to build partnership working across the NHS, local authorities, the third sector and patient groups.

We’ve made significant progress in Norfolk and Waveney over the last few years to improve care and provide more joined-up services. 

The move to more integrated care has given us the opportunity to work even more closely with local people and communities.

Working together in partnership, we can really help improve the health and wellbeing of people in Norfolk and Waveney and support our brilliant front-line staff.

Find out how integrated care is changing to better meet people’s needs by watching this video from NHS England:

A document has also been developed to provide further explanation of our ICS, which can be viewed here.

More information about ICSs, how they work, the benefits they bring and how this will work in Norfolk and Waveney is described below.

What is integrated care?

Integrated care is about giving people the support they need, joined up across local councils, the NHS, and other partners including social care providers, voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, charities and local communities. Integrated care involves partnerships of organisations coming together to plan and deliver joined-up health and care services.

What is an Integrated Care System (ICS)?

An Integrated Care System (ICS) brings together NHS organisations, councils, and wider partners in a defined geographical area to deliver more joined-up approaches to improving health and care outcomes.

All Integrated Care Systems in England will work to:

• improve outcomes in population health and healthcare
• tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access
• enhance productivity and value for money
• supporting broader social and economic development

ICSs remove barriers between organisations to deliver better, more joined-up care for local communities. ICS partners share a common vision to improve health and care, backed by robust operational and financial plans, collective leadership and accountability.

ICSs have the potential to drive improvements in population health and tackle health inequalities by reaching beyond the NHS to work alongside local authorities and other partners to address social and economic determinants of health.

What are the benefits?

Collaborating as ICSs will help health and care organisations tackle complex challenges, including:

• improving the health of children and young people
• supporting people to stay well and independent
• acting sooner to help those with preventable conditions
• supporting those with long-term conditions or mental health issues
• caring for those with multiple needs as our population ages
• getting the best from collective resources so people get care as quickly as
  possible
• Tackling waiting lists for surgery and care following the COVID-19 pandemic

Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System

The Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System is made-up of a wide range of partner organisations. These organisations are working together – with staff, patients, their carers, families, and members of the public – to transform local services. This is to help people lead longer, healthier and happier lives.

Our Integrated Care System includes:

As a partnership, we want to create a health and care system that values the role of the local community, as well as organisations, and enables people to take more control of their health and wellbeing, with easy access to high-quality care when it’s needed.

Over and above everything else we want to achieve, we’ve set ourselves three goals:

1. To make sure that people can live as healthy a life as possible. 

This means preventing avoidable illness and tackling the root causes of poor health. We know that the health and wellbeing of people living in some parts of Norfolk and Waveney is significantly poorer. How healthy you are should not depend on where you live. This is something we must change.

2. To make sure you only have to tell your story once. 

Too often people have to explain to different health and care professionals what has happened in their lives, why they need help, the health conditions they have and which medication they are on. Services have to work better together.

3. To make Norfolk and Waveney the best place to work in health and care. 

Having the best staff, and supporting them to work well together, will improve the working lives of our staff, and mean people get high quality, personalised and compassionate care.

Like all Integrated Care Systems in England, we are working to:

• improve outcomes in population health and healthcare
• tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access
• enhance productivity and value for money
• supporting broader social and economic development.

Our Integrated Care System also includes various other parts:

• Integrated Care Board
• Integrated Care Partnership
• Provider collaboratives
• Place boards
• Local health and wellbeing partnerships
• 17 Primary Care Networks