Changes to the NHS in Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire – 3 December update
Update as of 3 December
As we head towards the end of the calendar year, we felt this was a good time to share an update on how our NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) cluster arrangements are evolving across Gloucestershire and Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Over the past year, NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care have been working to reduce duplication, streamline functions, release increased funds to the frontline and support both immediate and longer-term public priorities for the health service.
The specific changes for ICBs are designed to strengthen our ability to focus on our future core strategic commissioning role, spearhead delivery of the 10 Year Health Plan on the ground and align with the Government’s wider NHS reform programme.
The recent publication of the Strategic Commissioning Framework marks an important milestone, setting out the future role of ICBs and providing a clear blueprint for translating population health needs into commissioning plans that make a real difference to local people. You can read the framework here.
Our ambition is for our cluster and future ICB to become a leading commissioner. This means using the best evidence, data, and partnerships to plan services that meet people’s needs, reduce health inequalities and deliver better outcomes for patients and communities.
Our Joint Transition Committee is guiding the change programme and ensuring that key workstreams – including governance, workforce, communications, finance, and clinical delivery – remain aligned to our objectives. These workstreams are critical to making sure the transition is well managed and that we maintain continuity of care while building the future organisation.
Work to bring our teams together is progressing well. The Executive consultation is currently underway, with proposals for the future leadership structure being discussed. Alongside this, following the recent agreement of a national scheme, we are preparing to launch an initial voluntary redundancy scheme in December.
These represent the first stages in the organisational development process and we will be taking care to support colleagues in the coming weeks as they consider their future options and choices. As we move towards the Spring next year, wider organisational consultation will take place as we develop our functions and structures to meet our future responsibilities. Again, we will do our utmost to ensure our staff are well supported throughout.
Next steps
We will continue to keep stakeholders updated as plans develop and decisions are made. We would like to reassure you that we remain totally committed to ‘place based’ working which has been integral to innovative service development for the people we serve across our area and will remain vital in supporting future success.
All of the previous briefings and updates that have been written about NHS Changes can be found on our website.