Your Integrated Care System (ICS) questions answered

Our Healthwatch Kingston Open Meetings provide an opportunity for members of the public in Kingston, to find out more about local health and care services.

They are an open forum for anyone to come and listen to presentation, ask questions and provide feedback to service providers.

At our Open Meeting on 24 May, NHS colleagues came to update attendees on the South West London Integrated Care System plans. A number of questions were asked by members of the public which our NHS colleagues have now provided the answers to. 

Questions and Answers

Q1: How do we find out about what PCNs are doing?

A: Primary care networks are starting to develop their own programmes of work with the practices within their local area. If people are interested in what their local primary care network is doing, you should contact your GP practice to find out more. Find out more about primary care networks at https://www.southwestlondonics.org.uk/kingston/primary-care-networks/

Q2: How will the public be updated on ICS meetings and what is the route for public feedback

Q3. How will service users and patients feedback their thoughts or concerns to the ICS?

A: The SWL ICS website has information about the SWL ICP meetings in public https://www.southwestlondonics.org.uk/about-us/integrated-care-partnership/

The NHS SWL ICB website has information about the SWL ICB meetings in public https://www.southwestlondon.icb.nhs.uk/about/board/

You can encourage residents to sign up for SWL ICS updates at https://swlondonics.org.uk/p/790E-38B/join-mailing-list

Previous updates can be found at https://www.swlondon.nhs.uk/category/news/press-releases/

Q4: Is the role of the HWBB to become more strategic? Therefore, at Place level, my expectation is that Kingston will be better able to set its priorities and drive forward on them.

A: The Place based partnerships will lead the design and delivery of integrated health and care services across the borough and within local neighbourhoods. 

Q5: What are the differences between what the HWBB are doing and Place/Leadership?

A: The Health and Wellbeing Board has a strategic oversight role to promote integrated working and strategy development to improve health and wellbeing and narrow the gaps in health inequalities. To develop a shared understanding of local needs through oversight of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and Kingston’s health and wellbeing strategy. These in turn inform the work of the Place based partnership.

Q6: Over the past 15 years NHS has changed (a fear that funds are being wasted with all of these transitions)

1. Better Service Better Value in 2010
2. Sustainable Transformation Programme in 2016
3. Local CCGs Kingston/Merton/Richmond/Sutton/Wandsworth/Croydon, merged to SWL CCG in 2020
4. Now ICS

What's next?

A: The establishment of integrated care systems was a national directive from DH&SC and NHSE England and not a local decision.

Q7: Could funds have been better used in the current system to increase the workforce and reduce waiting times, rather than another change?

A: The establishment of integrated care systems was a national directive from DH&SC and NHSE England and not a local decision.

Q8: Please provide appropriate sign-posting training and skills for volunteers in the Third Sector (including Faiths & Beliefs).

A: We will feed this back to KVA regarding training for and support for VCSE organisations. We will also work with health and care partners to ensure information we provide to VCSE organisations is accessible and up to date.

Q9: How are pharmacies being represented at Place?

Q10: Having heard about the need to include Pharmacists, what about the Emergency Services? especially the Ambulance Trust, Police (and maybe Fire and Thames Water)?

Q11: Where does dentistry fit in at Place?

A: The national deadline for the delegation to ICBs of pharmacy and primary care services, other than General Practice, is April 2023. The national guidance regarding the establishment of ICBs is that in the first instance the Primary Medical Services (PMS) Partner Member should be a GP. Therefore the current ICB will not take on responsibility for pharmacy and other primary care functions until April 2023. Locally our Primary Care Provider Lead on our Place based partnership committee works closely with pharmacy colleagues via the Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPC).

SWL ICS and Kingston Place brings together organisations and representatives to reduce health inequalities and improve the care, health, and wellbeing of the people in South West London and locally om Kingston. To do this we work closely with a range of local services and providers beyond those represented at the Place Committee such as community pharmacy, London Ambulance Service (LAS), housing providers, and schools and colleges.

Q12: People’s Panel – please can HWK have a list of the topics which have been covered so far?

A: The SWL People’s Panel was established in 2019. There are 4061 people currently on the panel. Of these 229 people on the people’s panel list have Kingston as their town, or 471 showing a KT postcode. Some of the insight work the online panel have contributed to include:

• Pharmacy use insight to inform winter campaign 20/21 (reducing pressure on GPs and A&E)
• 2020 Insight survey - Experiences during Covid-19 pandemic
• 2020 - Flu vaccination survey. Insight about attitudes and behaviours around vaccination to inform communications campaign.
• December 2020 and March 2021 - Insight surveys about intentions and concerns about Covid-19 Vaccination
• 2021 - Survey to inform a business case for Community Diagnostic Centres
• 2021 - Insight to re Flu and Covid-19 Booster to inform winter 21/22 campaign. Compare with 20/21 insight.
• Urgent and Emergency Care survey.

Q13: Will the ICS help with the Neuro Diverse (ND) pathways? Currently ND are sent down the Mental Health or Autism route.

A: Locally in Kingston and Richmond health and care partners are reviewing existing pathways around neurodiversity, including autism, ADHD and indeed intellectual disability and redefining local definitions. Over the last two years we have invested in services such as Achieving for Children (6-18 years) and Your Healthcare (18years +) as well as ADHD Embrace and MIND to improve diagnosis waiting times and also ongoing support to those with a neurodevelopmental primary diagnosis with and without a mental health presentation. We are aware that individuals may be referred through traditional mental health services or fall between services so we need to look at how we can invest more outside of the statutory and specialist mental health services. We are currently developing an all-age multi agency learning disability/neuro diverse pathway which will include several different providers and capture all the above. For more information we can put you in contact with our local project lead Rachel Oostra.