Perspective papers
Integrated care cannot be designed in Whitehall
Authors:
Peter Howitt ,
Imperial College, GB
About Peter
Senior Policy Fellow, Centre for Health Policy
Ara Darzi
GB
About Ara
Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery, Imperial College, London, UK
Abstract
In recent years England has introduced a number of initiatives to promote more integrated care. Two contrasting examples are the GP-led health centres and the Integrated Care Pilots announced in the interim and final reports, respectively, of the NHS Next Stage Review in 2007-2008. The GP-led health centres were proposed as a very centralised, prescriptive approach where the aim was that all the NHS should adopt the same model of facilitating integration through co-location. Integrated Care Pilots, on the other hand, looked to the NHS to suggest their own solutions to improve integration, resulting in a variety of solutions tailored to the needs of localities. Although the results of the evaluation of the Integrated Care Pilots have been equivocal, this bottom-up approach must be the right way to foster integrated care. Long term commitment to integrate care is needed, as well as more exploration of integration between primary care and hospitals.
How to Cite:
Howitt P, Darzi A. Integrated care cannot be designed in Whitehall. International Journal of Integrated Care. 2012;12(2):None. DOI: http://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.814
Published on
18 May 2012.
Peer Reviewed
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