The Leading Integration Peer Support Programme

NHS Providers, the Local Government Association (LGA) and NHS Confederation have joined forces to deliver a range of free, bespoke support for local health and care systems through The Leading Integration Peer Support Programme. Utilising the expertise of our sector, our support will help you strengthen your leadership and accelerate your partnership ambitions at system, place and neighbourhood levels.

It is independent 'from and of the sector' and includes peer reviews, workshops, critical friend support, mentoring and best practice sharing, all delivered by peers with extensive expertise leading health and care. Of the bespoke support delivered in the past six months, 82% said that the support has had a positive impact on the quality of relationships within the system.

The support gave all the partners an equal voice. That for us all was a great gift that enabled us to do the work we needed to do.

Senior lead, Coventry and Warwickshire    

The peer support offer has been invaluable in moving us forward as a group. The peer associate played a key role both for me as chair and to the success of the group with his extensive experience across local government, the NHS and other public organisations.

Chair    Barnsley Integrated Care Partnership Group

Our support offer:

• includes peer reviews, leadership development sessions, best practice workshops and mentoring
• is open to any health and care partnership at system, place or locality level, or individual leaders within
• is flexible and tailored to address your local challenges, developed in collaboration with you to ensure there is
  consensus and buy in from across your partnership.

Support can be focused on strategic aspirations or to explore the strengths or challenges of system leadership through the lens of a specific theme or challenge. For example:

• reviewing and strengthening working relationships, such as across or within newly established bodies including ICSs, ICPs, place based partnerships, and professional and clinical networks
• reviewing, aligning or creating ICS and ICP strategies, including building on pre existing local evidence, ambitions and progress
• responding to the reform agendas across ICSs, regulation, adult social care charging, health inequalities, levelling up and integration
• embedding the gains of Covid-19 and responding the increased demands as a result of the pandemic
• exploring the benefits of greater integration to address local challenges or national requirements
• addressing the challenge of what shared accountability looks like at system level within legislative frameworks
• expanding understanding across partnerships of the different contexts for which NHS and local government.

“The standard of the facilitators was first class. Hugely experienced. Listened to what was needed and without being too directive or controlling shaped what was needed to engage the broad range of stakeholders we were trying to get all on the same page - no easy task!”

Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICS    

All of this support can take place virtually if required, and requests for peer-led support can be made and delivered at any level, whether that be system, place or locality. Funding for The Leading Integration Peer Support Programme comes from the Primary Care and System Transformation Group at NHS England and NHS Improvement.

If you have any questions about the programme, or would like to speak with our team further about any of the resources, then please do get in touch.

Contact us