Over the last few years in Lancashire and South Cumbria, a number of organisations have been working in a more collaborative way to develop more integrated care. This includes NHS organisations, local authorities, the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector, hospices and local universities.

We have already made great progress in improving the way our services work together and how we work as a partnership. Joining up health and care is nothing new – we have been working towards this for some years, and we want to build on this excellent work. This includes further strengthening the incredible joint working we have seen throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which has made a massive difference to the lives of local people and their families.

In May 2022, the Health and Care Bill 2022 completed the parliamentary process and received Royal Assent, meaning it has formed part of UK law. This is a welcome and important step on the journey towards establishing integrated care systems on a statutory footing, which takes place on 1 July 2022.

In Lancashire and South Cumbria our partnership across health and care within our integrated care system is called Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership. 

A vital role of the partnership in the future will be as an enabler and problem solver – providing support to our place-based partnerships and provider collaborations to ensure that they provide the best care and outcomes for our residents. 

Our agreed partnership vision is to empower and support healthy communities so that people have the best start in life and can live and age well. 

We will do this by working well together, as equal partners, to put local people at the centre, join up health and care services, and address the critical challenges we face. By working together more effectively we will make a real difference to the lives of people and their families by supporting better health, improving health and care services and reducing health inequalities.