Patients will have better, more joined up care as Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), which require all parts of the NHS to work with each other and their partners, are rolled out across the country from next month - that is the claim from NHS England on the day that the number of ICS' comes to 42.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens today confirmed that the final 13 areas, serving 14.9 million people, will be formally designated “integrated care systems” (ICSs) from April 1, hitting a major milestone in the NHS Long Term Plan.

A total of 42 ICSs, which bring together hospital, community and mental health trusts, GPs and other primary care services with local authorities and other private and non-private care providers will cover the whole of England.

Announcing the decision to approve the local applications from these 13 areas at a meeting of ICS leaders, NHS chief executive and previously CEO of America's 6th largest private healthcare company United Health in Europe, Sir Simon Stevens said:

“Partnership working has been at the heart of the NHS’s remarkable response to the coronavirus pandemic and the NHS vaccination programme.

Now GPs, hospitals, pharmacists, local authorities and community groups have also come together to deliver COVID jabs to more than 22 million people across England in a matter of weeks.

We have seen what the NHS pulling together can do in the most testing period in the health service’s history.

The establishment of ICSs across the country will help to ensure that agile approach and can-do attitude endures beyond the pandemic.”

Of course he neglected to say that billions of pounds which should have gone to the NHS, has been paid to private companies, from the US and the UK to tackle Covid, from the shambles of PPE provisions, the useless track and trace system, and the running of the lateral flow tests which are themselves highly dubious in the accuracy of the results obtained from this method of Covid surveillance.

Nor did he go into the truth of what ICS' are: a failed American system of implementing private healthcare and medical insurance. These were previously known as Accountable Care Organisations until the name was changed following public concern during the Cameron and May tenures as PM.

Covid has allowed the Government and NHS England continue with the ultimate aim of abolishing the NHS and introducing private healthcare and medical insurance into England., and eventually across the whole of the UK.

The NHS England spin on all of this is silent on what the words actually mean in reality, and indeed use a whole new dictionary of confusing terminology to blind-side the public. It all seems quite benign on the face of it:

"The NHS Long Term Plan said Integrated Care Systems would be central to its delivery by bringing together local organisations to redesign care and improve population health, creating shared leadership and action.

ICSs exist to improve the health of all residents, better support people living with multiple and long term conditions, preventing illness, tackling variation in care and delivering seamless services while getting maximum impact for every pound. They bring together the NHS, local government and other organisations including the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sectors.

While the geographical boundaries for the individual systems may evolve during 2021/22 to enable co-terminosity between the NHS and local government, the structures will enable health and care organisations to join forces and apply their collective strength to addressing their residents’ biggest health challenges, many exacerbated by COVID-19.

Health and care leaders have said this will be more important going forward as we address health inequalities and tackle issues around mental health and obesity."

As previously reported by Unionsafety:

"The Government has set out a White Paper which will build on recommendations from NHS England and NHS Improvement to remove current legislative barriers to integration across health and social care bodies, and foster collaboration between NHS and local government organisations."

But then comes the lies or at least lilly guiding of Sir Simon Stevens words:

"This reflects the thousands of views received from every part of the health and care system and the public as part of recent engagement on what local leaders need."

The reality of course was reported by Unionsafety, that the so-called consultation referred to by Stevens, was a farce, limited to less than 4 weeks and virtually unknown by the public.

Those announced today were:

1. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
2. Mid and South Essex
3. The Black Country and West Birmingham
4. Herefordshire and Worcestershire
5. Northamptonshire
6. Coventry and Warwickshire
7. Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland
8. Lincolnshire
9. Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin
10. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent
11. Cheshire and Merseyside
12. Kent and Medway
13. Devon

Previously announced in December were 11 new ICS areas:

1. Norfolk and Waveney
2. Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire
   
3. Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire
   
4. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
   
5. Somerset
   
6. Birmingham and Solihull
   
7. Derbyshire
   
8. Hampshire and Isle of Wight
   
9. North West London
   
10. North Central London
    
11. North East London

Previously announced in June 2019:

1. Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West
   
2. South east London
   
3. North East and North Cumbria

Earlier in 2018, just 12 Integrated Care Systems were announced. However, as of today, the NHS England Website is confusing (above see pic) because it lists a number of ICS' which include some not fully formed as yet. Add this list to the above and it comes out as being 44 ICS' existing.

The final statement in the NHS England news release is once again merely words and factually a distortion:

"ICS', and formerly Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships, have worked for the last several years to break down barriers between organisations and improve care."

With the loss of 40,000 nurses to Brexit and the need for at least 10,000 additional doctors and the imminent leaving of the NHS by thousands of nurses due to their terrible and traumatic Covid caring experiences, the NHS couldn't be in a worse state at present and this top-down and privatising of the NHS at this time, is nothing short of criminal neglect in the face of private profit being driven throughout the organisation.

Source: NHS England / Unionsafety