England is making further step towards integrated health and social care system

The Head of NHS England has announced recently, that England will start a pilot of much deeper integrated care in 9 areas, covering about 7 million people. Integration will tighten up the links between hospital, GP and social care. 

Integration will be organized in the form of so-called "accountable care systems". The system will be based on positive experience from NHS England’s new care model ‘vanguards’, which showed multiple improvements, including among others reduction in emergency hospitalizations.

he eight accountable care systems are:

• Frimley Health including Slough, Surrey Heath and Aldershot
• South Yorkshire & Bassetlaw, covering Barnsley, Bassetlew, Doncaster, Rotherham, and Sheffield
• Nottinghamshire, with an early focus on Greater Nottingham and Rushcliffe
• Blackpool & Fylde Coast with the potential to spread to other parts of the Lancashire and South Cumbria at a later stage
• Dorset
• Luton, with Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire
• Berkshire West, covering Reading, Newbury and Wokingham
• Buckinghamshire

In addition, it is expected that West, North and East Cumbria and Northumberland could join the group of accountable care systems later in the year.

Read full story here.

To better understand "accountable care organizations", read analytical blog post from King's Fund here. 

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