The Leading Integration Peer Support Programme

Our support helped to strengthen leadership and accelerate partnership ambitions at system, place and neighbourhood levels.
A diverse office meeting.

Who are we and what do we do?

The NHS Confederation, the Local Government Association and NHS Providers joined forces to deliver a range of free, bespoke support for local health and care systems through The Leading Integration Peer Support Programme (LIPS). The programme ran for three years, closing in 2024.

The LIPS Programme offered independent, ‘from and of the sector’ support to help strengthen leadership and accelerate partnership ambitions at system, place and neighbourhood levels.

This infographic highlights the key programme achievements: 

LIPS Infographic Arrow pointing right

“The peer support offer has been invaluable in moving us forward as a group. The peer associate played a key role both for me as chair and to the success of the group with his extensive experience across local government, the NHS and other public organisations”

Chair, Barnsley Integrated Care Partnership Group

Our support

Our support offer included peer reviews, leadership development sessions, best practice workshops and mentoring. This was delivered by expert peers: senior health and care leaders who acted as ‘critical friends’ to facilitate, advise and constructively challenge local leaders to support progress against ambitions or system issues, and agree next steps.

This support was open to any health and care partnership at system, place or locality level, or individual leaders. It was designed to be flexible and tailored to address local challenges, developed in collaboration with you to ensure there is consensus and buy-in from across your partnership.

“The workshops have helped us to develop and mature as a place partnership. The support gave all the partners an equal voice. That for us all was a great gift that enabled us to do the work we needed to do.”

Senior Lead, Coventry and Warwickshire

Support was focused on strategic aspirations or exploring the strengths or challenges of system leadership through the lens of a specific theme or challenge. For example:

  • reviewing and strengthening working relationships, such as across or within newly established bodies including ICSs, ICPs, place-based partnerships, and professional and clinical networks.
  • reviewing, aligning or creating ICS and ICP strategies, including building on pre-existing local evidence, ambitions and progress.
  • responding to the reform agendas across ICSs, regulation, adult social care charging, health inequalities, levelling up and integration.
  • embedding the gains of Covid-19 and responding the increased demands as a result of the pandemic.
  • exploring the benefits of greater integration to address local challenges or national requirements.
  • addressing the challenge of what shared accountability looks like at system level within legislative frameworks.
  • expanding understanding across partnerships of the different contexts for which NHS and local government.

Useful Resources

Colleagues looking at a computer
Infographic

LIPS Programme Highlights

From January 2022 to March 2024 NHS England commissioned
the Leading Integration Peer Support programme (LIPS). A partnership between NHS Confederation, the Local Government Association and NHS Providers, it was designed to provide a range of free, bespoke support to system and place-based partnerships.

A diverse group of delegates having a conversation at a conference.
Video stories

The role of peer support and challenge in improving systems

Our Leading Integrated Peer Support programme, offered jointly with NHS Providers and Local Government Association, has already supported 18 integrated care systems to develop and improve but that wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our peers – but what exactly is the role of a peer?

A smiling doctor talking to a patient who is in bed.
Case Study

Peer Support at Place

How working with BOB ICS through our peer support programme has helped to improve their work at place level. Read the case study and watch the video of their experience working with the LIPS programme.

Diverse group sat around a boardroom table
Webinar

Watch: Integrated care strategies in practice

Watch the recording of our webinar where we explored how ICSs are turning the ambitions from their integrated care strategies into reality.

3 August 2023 10:00 - 11:00 GMT
Making sense of integrated care strategies - the leading integration peer support programme. 4 October 12.30pm till 2pm.
Webinar

Watch and access slides: Making sense of integrated care strategies

Watch the recording and access FAQs from our webinar on integrated care strategies, how they relate to other strategic work, and involving partners.

4 October 2022 12:30 - 14:00 GMT
Raising the voice of clinical and care professionals across an Integrated Care System (ICS). Online event Tuesday 11 October.
Webinar

Watch: Raising the voice of clinical and care professionals across an integrated care system (ICS)

Webinar looking at Gloucestershire’s experience of the Leading Integration Peer Support programme.

11 October 2022 14:00 - 15:00 GMT
Image of integrated care system team
Case Study

Using peer review to strengthen clinical and care professional leadership arrangements

How One Gloucestershire ICS used an external peer review in the development of its local framework for clinical and care professional leadership.

13 March 2023

We ran a series of dissemination events throughout the year, focused on aspects of system transformation, to provide a space for all system levels and disciplines, to hear others’ learning, discuss opportunities and challenges and share issues, ideas and insights.

We also ran bespoke sessions to disseminate learning, such as at an ICS or regional level, to discuss opportunities and challenges, share learning and ideas, and/or hear from other systems.

One-to-one peer mentoring

Mentoring is a great way to explore the issues you can’t easily discuss with colleagues, to reflect on difficult decisions and to get a different perspective. As well as building on existing networks and linking systems and people with similar challenges or experience, we will also match individuals for one-to-one support.

Based on the LGA’s long-established model, these reviews were offered virtually, or face-to-face over one or two days, with a mix of one-to-one interviews and focus groups, examining the opportunities and challenges local partners are facing. They were delivered by a team of trained peers, including current or former NHS and local authority chief executives and senior leaders who will provide a report of observations and recommendations. 

“The standard of the facilitators was first class. Hugely experienced. Listened to what was needed and without being too directive or controlling shaped what was needed to engage the broad range of stakeholders we were trying to get all on the same page - no easy task!” Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICS

Funding for The Leading Integration Peer Support Programme came from the Primary Care and System Transformation Group at NHSE.

  • We offered a range of workshops:

    Pause and reflect: Interactive virtual workshops that build on the incredible collaborations we have seen through COVID-19 and shape a system that is better able to serve people in a fast-changing world. This will require space to collectively pause and reflect on what has been learnt, how collaboration could be strengthened further as systems move from response to recovery and how best to marshal collective resources around a refreshed set of priorities.

    Integrated leadership: This workshop is delivered online or in small groups onsite. It enables local system leaders identify their shared vision, commitment, leadership and accountability to achieve a fully integrated local health and care system. Our approach can be adapted to work across a range of complex systems, including diverse organisational structures or multiple planning and commissioning footprints.

    When worlds collide: This practical and interactive workshop is designed to further mutual understanding and effective engagement for place-based leaders in care, health and wellbeing. Focused on either the NHS or local government, it explores organisational differences to help leaders in other parts of the system understand the context in which their colleagues work.

    Bespoke workshops: We also offer bespoke workshops, to reflect your local priorities.  All workshops can be run virtually, as half or full day events on a one-off basis, or as a series of sessions, depending on your local need.

    “The workshops have helped us to develop and mature as a place partnership. The support gave all the partners an equal voice. That for us all was a great gift that enabled us to do the work we needed to do.” Senior lead, Coventry and Warwickshire

     

  • Peer review is a robust and effective improvement tool led by the sector, for the sector. Building on the success of the LGA’s existing peer review model, and sector-led improvement approach we introduced more experienced peers from the NHS.

    The reviews were designed as a sense check for each partnership and an opportunity to hear how others were meeting similar challenges, encouraging the cross fertilisation of good practice within and between systems.

    We also developed a peer-to-peer review model where senior representatives from two systems come together to compare their vision, priorities, successes and challenges. The aim was to share these with experienced colleagues in a safe space to gain a different perspective and new ideas about how to solve common problems.

    “It’s definitely had a life beyond the event. It’s created a greater sense of collective responsibility which is now changing the conversations we’re having’ and ‘there have been significant behavioural and tonal changes as a result…with greater peer to peer challenge on an ongoing basis and a new focus on finding solutions to long standing issues….’’  Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership

  • We ran a series of dissemination events throughout the programme, with topics including; Making Sense of Integrated Care Systems, health inequalities, NED and councillor engagement: What good looks like, and also, Co-producing with and engaging communities: What does good look like? 

    Our online events were aimed at chairs, non-executive directors, councillors, local government officers and lay members and explored the top issues facing leaders. You can watch recordings of previous events here: Peer Support Offer - YouTube

    “One of the best, well run and informative webinars I have been to this year. Clear concise presentations that hit the right note.  It was inspiring, real, gave real practical ideas and well managed chat and plenary.”