In a recent speech, Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb, stressed the importance of integrated care and the ‘integration pioneers’ who are leading the way.
He said,
Too often people in our country experience failures of care. Not because health and care professionals lack skill or compassion. Not because of money. But because health and care services are uncoordinated, sometimes uncommunicative, and centred around what suits organisations and structures, rather than what helps people lead good lives.
If we want to deliver care which meets the needs of the patient, if we truly want person-centred care, if we truly want to protect our NHS for the future, new coordinated ways of working are the only answer.
By that I mean health and care services joined together, providing support to people who need it the most. That could be helping an elderly person living independently at her family home through technology. Or it could be helping people who regularly turn to A&E services because of a long term condition to be more supported at home, to prevent them reaching crisis point.
Read more about the 14 pioneering integrated care initiatives