Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are now official statutory bodies, as of today, 1 July 2022. In theory, this new scheme enables every level of the healthcare system to work together - from hospitals, to community services and councils, to enable ICSs to target their funding and care to their local population needs.
This is especially important to people with complex health conditions, including children and adults living with a muscle-wasting condition. It is anticipated that ICSs will deliver more coordinated and targeted care to improve patient experience and outcomes, which we hope will result in shortened wait times for diagnoses, treatment and care.
Until now, health and care services in England have been funded differently depending on which area you live in. Some services were funded through NHS England while others through Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which were responsible for the delivery of healthcare within a specific area. This way of funding services could make accessing coordinated care difficult, as it was sometimes unclear who is responsible for which service and often led to services working separately from each other.
MDUK has been working closely with our Neuromuscular Networks to engage with local ICSs to help neuromuscular services benefit from these changes. We will continue to monitor ICS development and engage with local leaders to improve access to care and services for people with a muscle-wasting condition.
To help provide more information for what this means for people living with a muscle-wasting condition, we have put together an FAQ to help clarify some of these changes.