Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 21
21
Accepted in Part
Paragraph: 106
Ensure dental profession representation on Integrated Care Boards for informed decision-making.
Recommendation
The dental profession should be represented on Integrated Care Boards to ensure they have the necessary expertise to inform decision-making around contracting and flexible commissioning. This should include wider engagement with the profession locally, for example through Local Dental Committees and Local Dental Networks.
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts, stating that while they have not changed their stance on mandatory representation, existing legislation allows ICBs the discretion to appoint additional members, including dental professionals, where locally deemed necessary. DHSC will continue to work with NHS England and ICBs to ensure current arrangements are effective.
Paragraph Reference:
106
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
Partially Accept NHS England have published implementation guidance on effective clinical and care professional leadership within ICBs. As part of the development of local frameworks and wider governance arrangements, system leaders were asked to commit that they ensured that the full range of clinical and professional leaders from diverse backgrounds are integrated into system decision-making at all levels. The Government has not changed its stance since the publishing of our response to the Committee’s report on integrated care systems: autonomy and accountability on 14 June this year. As stated in our response previously, ICBs are required to publish their constitution, which includes a list of ICB board members, in accordance with the Health and Care Act 2022. ICBs have made board member information, including members’ expertise and knowledge, publicly available on their websites. Where the ICB proposes a change to its board membership this will be discussed with the NHS England regional team as part of the constitutional amendment approval process. The Health and Care Act 2022 sets out membership requirements of ICBs that include representatives from NHS trusts, primary care and local authorities. However, local areas can go beyond the legislative minimum requirements in order to address their local needs. Most ICBs have used this discretion and appointed additional members such as members for public health, Voluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector representatives and others based on their local area needs, therefore all ICBs are already free to include representation from the dental profession where they deem this necessary. DHSC will continue to work closely with NHS England and ICBs to ensure that the current arrangements are working.