The NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England from 01 April 2013) Authority has set out its plan for a small number of strategic clinical networks to improve health services for specific patient groups or conditions, including people with dementia.

The strategic clinical networks, hosted and funded by the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England from 01 April 2013) (NHS CB), will cover conditions or patient groups where improvements can be made through an integrated, whole system approach. These networks will help local commissioners of NHS care to reduce unwarranted variation in services and encourage innovation.

The conditions or patient groups chosen for the first strategic clinical networks are:

• Cancer
• Cardiovascular disease (including cardiac, stroke, diabetes and renal disease)
• Maternity and children’s services
• Mental health, dementia and neurological conditions

These networks will exist for up to five years and will be managed by 12 locally based support teams. These teams will build and oversee effective network arrangements for their area and help networks develop an annual programme of quality improvement in local services.

Full details of strategic clinical networks can be read in The Way Forward – Strategic clinical networks published by the Board Authority and the supporting document The Way Forward – Frequently Asked Questions.