Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England, has said that integrated care systems will be put on a statutory footing by April 2022 if legislation can be passed early next year. This is now a target date for the proposed reorganisation of NHS planning and commissioning.
Speaking at an NHS Confederation conference today, NHS England’s chief executive said: “We want everyone to be working as an ICS… from April 2021. If we get legislation in the first part of next year, we expect to be able to put those on a statutory basis by April 2022.”
Sir Simon told HSJ in September NHSE was expecting legislation in the first half of 2021 which should give ICS a “legal form” — an apparent shift from NHSE’s position a year ago when it said ICS should continue as partnerships rather than new organisations. Creating them as new organisations is highly likely to involve the abolition of clinical commissioning groups, created in 2013.
Full story in HSJ, 24 November 2020