Publish date: 13 February 2023
The NHS England Board has approved plans to establish joint committees between NHS England and multi-ICB collaborations from 1 April - covering nine geographical footprints - that will oversee and take commissioning decisions on 59 specialised services.
Jointly commissioning specialised services where appropriate will enable the delivery of more joined-up care for patients, improving their experiences and outcomes from treatment. Integrated commissioning supports a focus on population health management across whole pathways of care, improving the quality of services, tackling health inequalities and ensuring best value.
The arrangements in 23/24 represent a stepping-stone towards delegating full commissioning responsibility for suitable services from April 24. This will be subject to further Board consideration and decision.
Commissioning responsibility for all other specialised services will be retained by NHS England - for some services, this will be on a permanent basis and for others this will be temporary until they are considered ready for delegation.
These plans, which were first set out in NHS England's Roadmap for Integrating Specialised Services within Integrated Care Systems, have been developed in close collaboration with NHS England’s regional teams, ICBs and specialised service providers. They represent the outcome of a thorough assessment process of ICB system readiness and a comprehensive analysis of services to determine their suitability and readiness for more integrated commissioning.
Next steps on the delegation of specialised services commissioning
Services suitable and ready for greater ICS leadership
If you have any questions about the plans or would like more information, you can email fcmp.england@nhs.net
