Recommendation 13

The Interim People Plan envisages a more pivotal role for integrated care systems, which are local partnerships of health and social care bodies that are jointly involved in local workforce planning and strategy. However, the NAO reported that partnerships are not statutory and therefore have no organisational accountabilities, and rely on the goodwill of constituent bodies.26 The King’s Fund and Sue Ryder also noted that partnerships vary in their readiness and capacity to take on wider workforce planning.27 In 2018, the Care Quality Commission reported, on the basis of 20 local system reviews, 18 Qq 20, 21, 34, 36 19 Q 37 20 Skills for Care, The State of the adult social care sector and workforce in England, Chart 28, October 2019 21 NWF0006 - Royal College of Nursing submission, para 1.6 22 Qq 18, 65 23 Qq 15–17, 19, 24 C&AG’s Report, para 3.11 25 Qq 17, 29 26 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.12 27 NWF0004 - Sue Ryder submission, para 2; NWF0002 - The King’s Fund submission, para 12 NHS nursing workforce 11 that it had not been assured of effective joint workforce planning across health and social care.28 HEE told us that integrated care systems are “working much more seamlessly” between the NHS and social care but acknowledged that there is “much more work to do” to bring the two sectors together.29