National ICS guidance and engagement documents
Here you will find links to some of the key national ICS guidance and engagement documents which are publicly available online. We will be adding new guidance as and when they are released to ICSs. These documents can also be found on the Future NHS Platform, along with several other useful ICS guides, which are only available if you sign up to the platform and log in as a member.
The ICS Design Framework
Title: Integrated Care Systems: Design Framework
Who it’s for: All
Date published: June 2021
The Integrated Care Systems Design Framework sets out the headlines for how NHS leaders and organisations will need to operate with their partners in ICSs from April 2022. The aim is to help ICSs as they put in place the practical steps to prepare for their new functions that are expected to be enabled by legislation in this parliamentary session.
Engaging with partner organisations
Title: Integrated care partnership engagement document: integrated care system implementation
Who is it for: Integrated Care Boards and Local Authorities
Date published: September 2021
The ICP engagement document was drafted by the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement, and the Local Government Association and aims to lay out the expectations around integrated care partnerships and the role they will play. It has been designed to encourage debate and support integrated care boards, local authorities, and other key stakeholders to think about how to arrange and establish their ICPs.
NHS Confederation briefing: Integrated care partnership (ICP) engagement document
Place-based working
Who it’s for: ICS Leaders and partner organisations
Date published: September 2021
As part of the establishment of new ICS arrangements from April 2021, ICS leaders need to confirm their proposed place-based partnership arrangements for 2022/23, including their boundaries, leadership and membership. This guidance document has been produced by NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Local Government Association. The aim is to support all partner organisations to define their place-based partnership working, and to consider how they will evolve to support the transition to the new statutory ICS arrangements, anticipated from April 2022.
Engaging with communities
Title: ICS implementation guidance on working with people and communities
Who it’s for: ICS Leaders and Partnership organisations
Date published: September 2021
This guide delivers ten principles which integrated care boards can use to develop their approaches to working with, and listening to, the experiences and issues of local people and communities, as laid out within the ICS Design Framework.
Who it’s for: ICS Leaders, partner organization leaders
Date published: September 2021
This guidance is for health and care leaders and gives more detail on how ICSs can embed voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector partnerships into the systems. It provides guidance for leaders from all organisations in ICSs that are developing partnerships across local government, health, housing, social care and the VCSE sector.
Developing effective leadership and governance
Title: ICS implementation guidance on effective clinical and care professional leadership
Who it’s for: ICS Leaders
Date published: September 2021
This guidance considers what good looks like when it comes to establishing clinical and care professional leadership across integrated care systems (ICSs). It is based on an extensive engagement exercise involving over 2,000 clinical and care professional leaders from across the country.
Our report: Clinical and care professional leadership in integrated care systems
Our report: Future systems leadership scoping project
Title: Interim guidance on the functions and governance of the integrated care board
Who it’s for: ICS Leaders
Date published: August 2021
This interim guide covers the expected governance requirements for integrated care boards as outlined in the Health and Care Bill and the Integrated care systems design framework.
HR and employment
Title: HR framework for developing integrated care boards
Who it’s for: ICS Leads, HR leads
Date published: August 2021
This HR framework provides guidance and practical support for NHS organisations affected by the proposed legislative changes as they develop and transition towards the new statutory integrated care boards.
Our briefing: HR Framework for Developing Integrated Care Boards
Title: Building strong integrated care systems everywhere: guidance on the ICS people function
Who it’s for: ICS Leads, HR Leads
Date published: August 2021
NHS leaders and organisations will be expected to work together, and with their partners in the ICS, to deliver 10 outcome-based people functions from April 2022. In establishing the ICS people function, each integrated care board will need to work with partners to agree what people activities can best be delivered at what scale, and how to use resources in the system most effectively. This guide builds on the people plan to support ICSs in developing this function.
Who it’s for: ICS Leads, HR Leads
Date published: June 2021
The NHS England and NHS Improvement executive paper Integrating care: next steps to building strong and effective integrated care systems across England outlined an ‘employment commitment’ to colleagues directly affected by the proposed legislative change. This guidance outlines what the employment commitment is, its application in practice and how it affects people.
Working with providers
Title: Working together at scale: Guidance on Provider Collaboratives
Who it’s for: ICS Leaders, Providers
Date published: August 2021
Within the ICS Design Framework there is an expectation that provider collaboratives will be a key component in enabling ICSs to deliver their core purpose. This guidance looks at the expectations for how providers should work together in provider collaboratives, and offers principles to support local decision-making, as well as suggesting form and function for consideration.
Q and A paper on CCG Closedown
Title: Q and A - CCG Closedown
Who is it for: ICS Leaders
Date published: November 2021
The HFMA hosted a webinar by NHS England and NHS Improvement on CCG closedown and establishment of integrated care boards (ICBs). The webinar gave an opportunity to hear from the team at NHSE/I about the task ahead, the support available, and the guidance being issued. The team covered the use of the due diligence checklist and how this relates to the completion of other documents in the process. A recording of the webinar can be accessed here and this document covers a number of questions which were raised during the session and subsequently been answered by the NHSE/I team.
