Strategic commissioning in a devolved Integrated Care System (ICS): Surrey Heartlands Health and care partnership and HM Government devolution area

Strategic commissioning in a devolved Integrated Care System (ICS)

Surrey Heartlands Health and care partnership and HM Government devolution area

Objectives

Attain supported the Surrey Heartlands Health and care partnership and HM Government devolution area in the South East of England. This included clinical and county council commissioners and involved;

Supporting the development of an ICS with decision making powers shifting closer to local communities, and how the system organised itself to assess and plan service needs for the future, Attain was commissioned to:

1. Develop shared understanding of the ideal footprint levels for commissioning and clarify the types of services which are best commissioned across each footprint.
2. Agree on the activities and functions involved in the commissioning process across the ICS and map these to the different commissioning levels.
3. Inform the development of an operating model for the system’s commissioning functions, supporting the different footprints. Included identifying key considerations and an indicative plan for mobilisation.

What we did

Our support included:

• Engaging over 60 senior level stakeholders from across the Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership through a range of face to face meetings and group based discussions.
• Facilitating a workshop with additional County Council and Clinical Commissioning Group staff to grow internal thinking around commissioning footprints, activities and functions, and the key issues to be considered in designing interim and future operating models for how Surrey Heartlands would commission services.
• Identifying and consolidating a series of underlying principles and assumptions through collaboration and consensus with partners throughout the project to inform and provide a framework for decision making.
• Co-designing a future operating model and outline governance structure for the ICS which also included describing an interim state for partners as they work towards fully integrating the strategic commissioning activities.

Our impact

Our results included;

• Through extensive stakeholder engagement and co-production, Attain designed an operating model and outline governance structure for the ICS that would enable all of the available resources for health and care to be brought together, so that NHS and the local authority operate as one.
• Attain also described an interim state which would support Surrey Heartland’s emerging ambition to work towards fully integrating the strategic commissioning activities undertaken by both County Council and the NHS.
• Our recommendations were universally welcomed by the system’s senior leaders including the chief executive of the County Council, the joint accountable officer of the three local CCGs, and the senior clinical leads for the ICS.

Find out more about Integration