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The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) have published a joint focus report People not Structures: putting people at the heart of integrated care which focuses on integrated care systems, and concludes that councils and NHS need to work more closely to improve local care.
The report uses insights from LGSCO’s Joint Working Team with the PHSO, which carries out single investigations on complaints that include issues that span both jurisdictions of health and social care services.
LGSCO notes that Integrated Care Systems (ICS) are almost two years into their inception and there is enormous variety in progress and delivery across England’s 42 ICS bodies.
Whilst there are many areas of good practice there are also examples of poor communication, and issues of accountability and funding, hampering the care that people receive at critical points of their lives.
This report highlights cases where a greater focus on people and their families could have improved the final months of life and where vital years of education were lost because of failures of the NHS and local authorities to work together.
The report includes a recommendation for ICSs to agree a ‘person first approach’ where councils and health services work together to look at how needs can be met as their first priority. It also suggests that councils and health services agree standard frameworks for effective communication, focused on ensuring professionals on the frontline interact effectively and record all discussions and decisions.
