FSRH responds to NHS Confederation survey on leadership in Integrated Care Systems

The NHS Confederation has launched a survey to gather feedback on proposed principles for clinical and care professional leadership in Integrated Care Systems (ICSs). In our response, we outline the importance of collaborative working, clinical leadership for women’s health, and transparent workforce planning.

Key points and recommendations

• We believe that collaborative working should be the new standard model during and beyond the pandemic. The move towards collective responsibility will encourage NHS bodies and providers to work towards improving population health outcomes and consider public health interventions in the planning and delivery of their services.
• Clinical leadership for women’s health should be embedded at every level of the healthcare system. At national level (NHSE), accountability could be enhanced with the appointment of a National Clinical Director (NCD) for women’s reproductive health or a National Specialty Adviser in Community Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare (CSRH). At system level (ICSs), accountability could be enhanced through the appointment of a women’s health lead at the ICS NHS Body Board or equivalent structure. We believe that it is also crucial that a Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare lead is represented in Health and Care Partnerships’ Boards.
• Workforce is the biggest challenge to the sustainability of the NHS. It is imperative that a long-term workforce strategy is developed and provided with sufficient funding to enable implementation. Workforce planning must also be transparent. We believe that to provide transparency, workforce data and planning should be published annually, with a legal duty on a relevant body to do this (such as Health Education England). In addition, to provide accountability, there should be a legal duty for the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to respond to that publication annually in Parliament.

Download the full response here.