ICS leaders will be pleased to see Health and Social Care Select Committee reflect their priorities in inquiry report

Responding to the Health and Social Care Select Committee inquiry report on Integrated Care Systems: autonomy and accountability, Sarah Walter director of the NHS Confederation’s ICS Network, who gave oral evidence to the committee in January 2023 said: 
   
“ICS leaders welcomed the committee undertaking this inquiry and will be pleased to see the report reflect the key challenges they face as they approach the end of their first year as statutory bodies.
 
“In particular, ICS leaders will be pleased to see the recommendation from the committee that targets for ICS should be outcomes-based, as this will be one of the key drivers or brakes on the ability of ICS to truly transform the delivery of health and social care.
 
“Although there is an understandable need to deliver improvements against some of the immediate priorities facing ICS, we would agree with the committee’s position that long-term improvements to care and health outcomes for communities will be dependent on ICS having the capacity to focus on public health, prevention and their role in the local economy. 
  
“The Hewitt Review will provide the opportunity to consider and implement a number of this report’s recommendations and ICS leaders look forward to its publication.”