Providers call for community services boost

In a report, NHS community services: taking centre stage, the provider organisation said some community services have developed new ways of working and collaborated with others to improve services to patients. But, overall, support on the ground has failed to match governments' rhetoric.

The report includes community services delivered by trusts and some local authority-commissioned services, such as community physiotherapy, community nursing teams and sexual health services, but not those provided by GPs or mental health services.  

A survey of trust leaders, which included more than half of those providing community services, said 52% of community trusts had seen their funding cut in this financial year, with 44% cutting costs and 30% reducing staff numbers.

More than 80% of all provider trusts were concerned that community services would not receive the investment needed to deliver the NHS Five-year forward view. If current trends continued, the gap between funding and demand for community services would grow over the next 12 months. And 62% were worried about the ability of community services to maintain adequate staff numbers.

Nine out of 10 respondents said, at a national level, community services were viewed as a lower priority than other services. NHS Providers said failure to prioritise at national and local level, together with a lack of understanding of community services, were key reasons why expansion of the services had not happened. Expansion was hampered by competition and procurement rules, while the lack of national data, quality measures and targets had also hindered progress.

With the advent of sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) and integrated care systems (ICSs), community providers have an opportunity to lead the transformation of health and care services, said Chris Hopson (pictured), the chief executive of NHS Providers.

‘They are in a unique position to act as integrators, working across boundaries and collaborating with other parts of the public sector to tackle health inequalities,’ he said.

‘They have played a central role in delivering new models of care, working with GPs, nurses, hospital specialists, mental health and social care services to deliver integrated care in the community. And yet – as our survey makes clear – all too often NHS community services are marginalised, underfunded and short staffed.’

Community services should be given greater priority at national level and within STPs and ICSs, with funding and action on workforce shortages, he added. ‘It is patients who are paying the price for the failure to follow through on past commitments as the rest of the health and care system struggles to keep up with rising demand for treatment.’