The NHS structure is constantly trying to improve and that means it is constantly changing. There are many parts of the NHS That make it the organisation that it is.
The Structure below has been in place since 2022 .
The Department of Health (DoH)
Government Department responsible for Funding and Policy Development
NHS England
The NHS England Operating Framework sets out support for systems and providers to lead locally to improve the health of the population, improve the quality of patient care, tackle inequities and deliver care more efficiently. It describes six longer-term aims:
- Longer, healthier life expectancy.
- Excellent quality, safety and outcomes.
- Excellent access and experience.
- Equity of healthy life expectancy, quality, safety, outcomes, access and experience.
- Value for taxpayers’ money.
- Support to society, the economy and environment.
Integrated Care Boards (ICB)
(From 2022 – previously Clinical Commissioning Groups)
Bring NHS & Care Organisations together locally to improve population health and establish shared strategic priorities within the NHS
Integrated Care Systems (ICS)
ICBs work alongside an Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) to form an Integrated Care System (ICS)
An ICP is a statutory committee jointly convened by Local Authorities and the NHS. It comprises a broad alliance of organisations and other representatives as equal partners concerned with improving health, public health and social care services to their population.
ICSs are partnerships between the ICBs, NHS Trusts, Local Authorities and the voluntary & community sectors. They are designed to break down barriers between the organisations that pay for services and those that provide them.
Integrated Neighbourhood Teams
The Integrated Neighbourhood Teams work with wider partners in their local area, making sure that wider issues of health and wellbeing can be addressed. These partners include social care, health and the independent and voluntary sector all working together.
Primary Care Networks (PCN)
PCNs are a group of GP Practices working with a range of local Health Care Providers – pharmacy, mental health, social care, community & the voluntary sector.
For example, Grove Medical Practice, Moat House, Spinney Surgery and Riverport Medical Practice are the four GP practices that make up the St Ives PCN. For more information, check out the ‘our practices‘ page.
PCNs area key vehicles for delivering many of the commitments in the NHS long-term plan and providing a wider range of services to patients.
PCNs will eventually be required to deliver a set of seven national service specifications. Three started in 2020/21: structured medication reviews, enhanced health in care homes, and supporting early cancer diagnosis.
A further four are also set to follow: anticipatory care (with community services), personalised care, cardiovascular disease case-finding, and locally agreed action to tackle inequalities. To do this they will be expected to provide a wider range of primary care services to patients, involving a wider set of staff roles than might be feasible in individual practices, for example, first contact physiotherapy, extended access and social prescribing.
PCNs are expected to think about the wider health of their population, taking a proactive approach to managing population health and assessing the needs of their local population to identify people who would benefit from targeted, proactive support.
PCNs are focused on service delivery, rather than on the planning and funding of services, responsibility for which is with the ICB, and are expected to be the building blocks around which integrated care systems are built.
The ambition is that primary care networks will be the mechanism by which primary care representation is made stronger in integrated care systems, with accountable clinical directors from each network being the link between general practice and the wider system.