Select committee: Health and Social Care Committee

Conclusion 15

Seventh Report - Integrated Care Systems: autonomy and accountability Published 30 Mar 2023 Paragraph 52 Addressed to Department of Health and Social Care
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We share the concern expressed by the NAO about the lack of clarity around what ICSs are expected to deliver within their core purposes. While we are conscious of, and agree with, the need to avoid micromanaging ICSs, we believe that DHSC needs to provide additional clarity about what exactly ICSs are expected to deliver. Only then can the public, and parliamentarians, begin to assess the success of ICSs.

From: Health and Social Care Committee, Seventh Report - Integrated Care Systems: autonomy and accountability (HC 587), paragraph 52, 30 March 2023

Government response

The government responded to the whole report on 14 June 2023 (deadline 30 May 2023).

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government welcomes the committee's report and states that it "remains committed to the development of ICSs", responding to the committee's and the linked Hewitt Review recommendations together, with some accepted, some supported in principle or kept under consideration, and some not agreed.

  • On leadership, it states: "We accept the value of having a national leadership programme across health, care and wider sectors."
  • On a national prevention spending shift, it says: "we do not agree with imposing a national expectation of an essentially arbitrary shift in spending."
  • On centrally gathering ICB membership data, it says this "will be duplicating efforts as all the information is publicly available".
  • On CQC ratings, DHSC "will consider the best approach regarding ICS ratings" and states that CQC "will start to test the ratings" in 2024 to 2025.

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error