System leaders announce plans for closer working

26 March 2018

Login to access this content


Subject to approval by both bodies’ boards, the new working arrangements will start from September. Regional teams will be integrated and led in each case by a regional director working for both organisations. There will also be a move to seven regional teams.Ian Dalton

A paper published ahead of an NHS England board meeting said these teams would work with health systems and their constituent commissioners and providers to provide ‘oversight and support for improvements in quality, health outcomes and use of resources’.

A letter to NHS chief officers also said that there would be increased integration and alignment of national programmes and activities – with one team created where possible.

In a joint quote from the two bodies’ chief executives, Simon Stevens (NHS England) and Ian Dalton (NHS Improvement, pictured) said the public saw the NHS as a single organisation. ‘So, as we work to improve care for patients, it is right that the national leadership of the NHS works more closely. Together we are more than the sum of our parts.’

The move aims to use the organisations’ collective resources more effectively, remove unnecessary duplication and improve the impact of work. Providers, commissioners and local health systems should expect more consistency in what they are expected to deliver and the joint working would also help ‘to break down traditional boundaries between different parts of the NHS and between health and social care’.

There are existing examples of the two bodies working together, for example there are already a number of joint appointments, a single national programme for urgent and emergency care, winter planning and A&E performance. However the organisations – which are prevented from formal merger by legislation – would retain distinctive statutory responsibilities and accountabilities.