Advice for ICSs to Prepare for Winter Resilience

To help Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), Care England has produced this document to help ensure ICSs are best informed. As we move closer to the winter period, the increase in delayed discharge will lead to a increase in the backlog. Care England has outlined how Integrated Care Systems can work with and utilise care provider capacity to help alleviate the pressures.

The document outlines three key asks/recommendations for ICSs and provides case studies for system leaders to consider when engaging with adult social care. The key recommendations are:

1. Importance of joint strategy planning – Winter priorities should be developed in partnership between health and social care services. Within this partnership, independent sector care providers should be seen as long-term legitimate partners instead of being used to overcome short-term pressures.

2. Importance of transparency in funding – Funding for independent care services is often made available through ‘winter pressure’ allocations. Short‐term funding does not allow the independent sector to devise good schemes to alleviate Winter pressures on health services‐ there needs to be an increase in the length of care contracts from ICBs (formally CCGs). Long-term contracts with timely notification of available future funding will be essential to allow the independent sector to plan services adequately, be innovative in its approach, retain and train staff, generate and disseminate knowledge gained, and demonstrate the value of the service to local health and social care communities.

3. Importance of shared learning – At a local level organisations will benefit from collaborations‐ sharing experiences, good or bad practice etc.

Access the full document below
Winter Resilience Document for ICSs