Plans to create a pioneering new organisation for adult health and social care in Salford have taken another step forward.
Details of the full business case and new governance arrangements for the Integrated Care Organisation have been published and are now being considered by each of the organisations which are developing the proposals: Salford City Council, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group and Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust (GMW).
Salford City Council’s Cabinet will consider the proposals on 26 April.
The proposals for an integrated care organisation will create one single organisation, led by Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, to provide most adult health and social care services. It will see council and health staff working together to create more personalised services for residents in a streamlined system to keep patients out of hospital and receiving care closer to home.
The new Integrated Care Organisation will bring together more than 2,000 staff working across adult community, mental and acute health and social care services under a single leadership with a combined budget of £213m.
NHS Improvement, the organisation responsible for overseeing foundation trusts and NHS trusts in England, is currently assessing the business case and governance arrangements for approval.
The four partners have been working together over the past three years to join up health and care services by bringing together health and care budgets and redesigning services.
Salford City Mayor Ian Stewart said: “Our aim is to provide the best possible health and social care for our residents. Working together in this way means people will receive well-coordinated health and care services with support to stay independent in their own homes as long as possible. Subject to final decisions and approvals, I am pleased to see that our partnership plans are close to the point where we can launch our new way of working.”
Sir David Dalton, Chief Executive at Salford Royal, said: “This is another step forward towards an exciting new future for Salford. The four partners have already worked together extremely successfully to improve the care of older people in the city and the next step, once the proposals are approved, will be to extend that to all adults receiving health and social care in the city.”
Anthony Hassall, Chief Accountable Officer at Salford Clinical Commissioning Group said: “As people live longer and with more complex health conditions we need innovative new approaches to supporting and caring for them. Pooling our expertise and creating one organisation is the way forward.”
Gill Green, Director of Operations and Nursing at GMW, said: “The integrated care organisation will put health and care services for both mental and physical needs on a par. It’s truly pioneering and means patients in Salford will benefit from a vast pool of shared expertise and resources.”
