Our Integrated Care Partnership (ICP)

Improving the care, health and wellbeing of the population

The Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) is a statutory committee jointly formed between the NHS Integrated Care Board and local authorities that fall within the Integrated Care System (ICS) area.

The ICP will bring together a broad alliance of partners concerned with improving the care, health and wellbeing of the population, with membership determined locally. The ICP is responsible for producing an integrated care strategy on how to meet the health and wellbeing needs of the population in the ICS area.

As part of the Birmingham and Solihull ICS transition plan, there has been extensive local engagement with our key stakeholders and partners about the role, function and representation of our ICP.

The Birmingham and Solihull ICP brings together NHS, social care, and independent and third sector providers to agree the strategy and direction for the ICS as a whole.

The 10 year strategy for health and care

The ICP has now published its 10 year strategy for health and social care: ‘A Bolder, Healthier Future for the People of Birmingham and Solihull’. Read more about this and download a copy of the strategy.

A Bolder, Healthier Future for the People of Birmingham and Solihull – Strategy for Health and Care 2023 – 2033

We were legally established on 1 July 2022, after abolishment of Clinical Commissioning Groups, following the Health and Care Act 2022 receiving Royal Assent. Our constitution was published on the same day.

An ICB is a statutory NHS organisation responsible for developing a plan for meeting the health needs of the Birmingham and Solihull population, managing the NHS budget and arranging for the provision of health services in the Integrated Care System (ICS) area.

We provide strategic leadership for the entire system, which is made up of 14 partners across health and social care, and the voluntary and community sectors.

We serve a population of more than 1.3 million people across Birmingham and Solihull. Birmingham is one of the most diverse cities in England, with more than 50% of its population from global majority backgrounds. Solihull is home to an aging population, while both areas have significant disparities between those on highest and lowest income, with 40% of Birmingham residents and 12% of Solihull residents living in the most deprived communities in Britain.

Life expectancy in the most deprived areas of Solihull are 12.8 years lower for men and 11.1 years lower for women, while Birmingham has the highest infant mortality rate of all local authorities in the country.

The system is tasked with delivering the highest quality care to our citizens against a backdrop of significant challenge. However, we’re proud of the strides we have made in recent years towards improving how we provide care, address health inequalities and make a positive impact for staff, patients and communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on service delivery in Birmingham and Solihull. Much of the last year has been spent trying to recover, addressing record waiting lists for elective treatments and seeing patients as quickly as possible, in the most appropriate place. The system was recently recognised for its huge progress in the last year by NHS England, who have said they are confident that we will continue on this upward trajectory. In some cases, waiting lists have been reduced to zero, and while some waiting lists remain high, the system has committed to working collaboratively to continue on this improvement journey.

This collaboration can be seen across a multitude of services and service areas. In children’s services, social care colleagues in Birmingham are working closely with those in Solihull to ensure more joined up and seamless care delivery, learning from the challenges and success of each locality area. In primary care, we’re seeing more and more integrated working through neighbourhood teams, the maturing of primary care networks and the use of urgent care hubs to manage things such as respiratory demand.

Alongside this, our acute hospitals have been working to address ambulance handover delays, of which we have seen an increasing number over the last year. Progress is being made, utilising initiatives such as GP streaming, more seamless discharges and the use of Urgent Treatment Centres where appropriate to receive care away from emergency departments. Pressure remains high, but we are committed to setting the system up for success

What are the aims of the ICP?

The ICP will:

Agree the strategic intent for the health and social care system including the development of the Integrated Care Strategy, while encouraging places and localities to set their own strategy and decision making within this framework.
Work together to unblock obstacles to success that emerge in local place alliances and to hear the voices of citizens and frontline staff to inform strategic thinking and planning.
Act in the best interest of people, patients, and the system as a whole rather than representing individual interests of any one constituent partner.
Encourage innovation and signpost ways to develop and spread that innovation.
Harness the capability and innovation of the whole system.
Support and encourage decision making at locality and place level and create the environment across the ICS for collaboration locally and, where appropriate, at system level.
Actively role model and promote the values and leadership standards of the ICS.

Who are the members of the ICP?

Our health and care service partners are listed below:

Other partners include: