Integrated care: the clinicians’ view

Abstract

Moving the NHS towards an integrated care service is a key priority according to a number of recently released strategies, plans and policy documents. Indeed, the 2014 NHS Five-Year Forward View (5 yr FV) is built on a consensus among patient and front-line staff that this is how care must be provided in the future. Central to this is the expectation that services for longterm medical conditions can and must be delivered outside the hospital setting. While this may at fi rst appear to threaten hospital consultants, in reality it provides an opportunity for all medical specialties to help shape clinical service provision and provide accessible specialist care at a population level. A report from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) on integrated care, due later in 2015, includes contributions from clinicians practicing in a variety of specialties, as well as from a cross-section of consultants and GPs involved in medical and specialty training, patients, trainees and senior policy makers, all addressing what steps need to be in place if integrated care is to deliver the intention envisaged in the NHS fi ve-year plan. Ahead of this publication, we summarise insights gained from our preliminary work.