Interim guidance on our approach to assessing integrated care systems

Our assessment reports will clearly set out required improvement and best practice.

Following the report, system partners (integrated care boards, local authorities, and providers) are expected to come together through a local system improvement summit to review assessment findings and publish action plans, which we will monitor.

Improvement summits are intended to be a forum to discuss the findings from the assessments. They also enable integrated care system leaders to:

• share learning, good practice and innovation
• drive improvement
• develop action plans
• work with national bodies where appropriate to secure an improvement offer of support to enable leaders to implement changes across the system.

Where necessary, we will share any concerns with national partners across health and social care (for example, NHS England, Local Government Association, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, Department of Health and Social Care or the Department for Levelling Up), recognising that lines of accountability are different for NHS organisations and local authorities. The relevant organisation will oversee support or make an intervention. Where appropriate, we will help to identify improvement support.

We will continue to work with the Department of Health and Social Care as it develops its intervention policy for local authorities.