West Lancashire Partnership

Over the last few years in Lancashire and South Cumbria, a number of organisations have been working in a more collaborative way. This includes NHS organisations, local authorities, the voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) sector, hospices and local universities.

We have already made great progress in improving the way our services work together and how we work as a partnership. Joining up health and care is nothing new – we have been working towards this for some years, and we want to build on this excellent work. This includes further strengthening the incredible joint working we have seen throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, which has made a massive difference to the lives of local people and their families.

You can read about how we are working together to integrated care across Lancashire and South Cumbria in our Delivering Integrated Care narrative.

Find out more: Integrated Care in Lancashire and South Cumbria

Our agreed vision for Lancashire and South Cumbria, as described in our ICS strategy, is to empower and support healthy communities so that people have the best start in life and can live and age well. 

We will do this by working well together, as equal partners, to put local people at the centre, join up health and care services, and address the critical challenges we face. By working together more effectively we will make a real difference to the lives of people and their families by supporting better health, improving health and care services and reducing health inequalities.

Joining up health and care is nothing new – we have been working towards this for some years, and we want to build on this excellent work. This includes further strengthening the incredible joint working we have seen throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, which has made a massive difference to the lives of local people and their families.

If the Health and Care Bill is passed, the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care System will become statutory and will include an NHS Integrated Care Board and an Integrated Care Partnership. 

The NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board will be a new statutory NHS organisation that will be known publicly as “NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria”.

We expect that, subject to legislation, on 1 July 2022 the eight CCGs in Lancashire and South Cumbria will closedown and a new ICB organisation will be established. Key roles for the ICB have been confirmed as David Flory CBE, ICB Chair Designate and Kevin Lavery, ICB Chief Executive Designate. Five non-executive members have also been appointed with more details here.

More information will be available regarding any changes to NHS organisations. There will be no changes to how local residents access NHS frontline services in Lancashire and South Cumbria as part of these changes.

A Place-Based Partnership is a collaboration of planners and providers across health, local councils, the voluntary sector and the wider community who take collective responsibility for improving the health and wellbeing of residents within a place.

There are five Place-Based Partnerships in Lancashire and South Cumbria, covering the areas of Morecambe Bay, Fylde Coast, Pennine Lancashire, Central Lancashire and West Lancashire. As a whole, the five Place-Based Partnerships come together under an Integrated Care System called Lancashire and South Cumbria (LSC) Health and Care Partnership. LSC Health and Care Partnership is a key partner for each health-based partnership working closely with GPs and Primary Care Networks in each area.

A place-based partnership is a collaboration of planners and providers across health, local authority and the wider community, who take collective responsibility for improving the health and wellbeing of residents within a place, with a population of up to 500,000.

The core aims of Place-Based Partnerships are to:

• Improve the health and wellbeing of the population and reduce inequalities

• Provide consistent, high-quality services that remove unwarranted variation in services

• Consistently achieve national standards/targets across the sectors within the partnership

• Maximise the use of a place-based financial allocation and resources Staff in each of the partner organisations will play a vital role in achieving these core aims

This transition to a more collaborative style of working is supported by legislation that has recently been introduced to Parliament: Health and Care Bill 2021-22 - House of Commons Library (parliament.uk).

LSC Health and Care Partnership’s ambition is for all partners to be recognised equally for their contribution. This includes voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations being commissioned effectively for their services and for social care staff to be fully recognised for their value in providing care and support to vulnerable people.

Read more: Developing place-based partnerships in Lancashire and South Cumbria