The Strategic Commissioning Framework for Integrated Care Boards was published in England

On November 4, 2025, NHS England published the strategic commissioning framework to support the 10 Year Health Plan ambitions. The document outlines that strategic commissioning will be the key role of integrated care boards (ICBs) in the future.

Strategic commissioning is a continuous evidence-based process to plan, purchase, monitor, and evaluate services over the longer term and, with this, improve population health, reduce health inequalities, and improve equitable access to consistently high-quality healthcare. ICBs, as strategic commissioners, are accountable for creating the best value for the public from their NHS budget.

The key ambitions for the future of strategic commissioning include (but are not limited to):

• ICBs will continue to work in partnership;
• ICBs will work with public health and local stakeholders to assess the needs of local populations;
• ICBs will develop a clear, evidence-based methodology for determining priorities and the commissioning and decommissioning of services to meet these priorities;
• ICBs will be transparent in making decisions and sharing the evidence on which they are based;
• ICBs will commission across pathways of care and increasingly focus on population-based care;
• ICBs will strengthen their understanding of and ability to carry out their payor functions. In particular, they will be capable of driving efficiency and performance through cost, market, and contractual management; translating payment reform nationally; and driving change locally to ensure incentives align with local needs.

Strategic commissioning comprises four stages (described in detail in the document):

• Understanding the context;
• Developing long-term population health strategy;
• Delivering through the payor function and resource allocation;
• Evaluating impact.

It is expected that all ICBs will begin to adopt the strategic commissioning approach as part of the NHS planning process for the financial year 2026/27.

A strategic commissioning development programme will be in place from April 2026 to support ICBs and others who commission NHS services to develop as strategic commissioners

See the full details here.

This news is just one of about 300 market access news collected by our team in the premium subscription service Market Access Monitor every week from more than 80 organizations. Access our paid service to stay on top of all developments specifically for your products in Europe (reimbursement news) and globally (HTA news). Access is organized as an online Database and email alert formats. Contact us to get a free, three-month, no-obligation trial.