Have you ever left a hospital appointment feeling more confused than when you arrived, a specialist, and social services, having to repeat your entire medical history at every stop. If so, you’re not alone. This frustrating experience is exactly what integrated care aims to fix.
The UK healthcare system has undergone a massive transformation in recent years, with integrated care now sitting at the very heart of NHS strategy. But what does this actually mean for you as a patient, We’ll break down everything you need to know about integrated care, how it works in practice, and the real benefits it brings to patients across the country.
Understand Integrated Care
Integrated care implementation is a new frontier in health service delivery throughout the UK. Rather than patients being left to struggle through a fragmented mix of services, integrated care brings together NHS trusts, local authorities and community providers – alongside voluntary organisations – to provide joined-up, person-centred support.
Instead of your care being a series of disconnected appointments visited by completely separate professionals who don’t communicate, integrated care means everyone responsible for your health works as one team. What the hospital consultant advised is something that your GP knows. Your medical care is known to your social worker. And you don’t need to tell your story from (a) scratch every time.
The aim is blunt but ambitious: to make sure people get the right care, at the right time, in the right place. The UK is facing a large increase in people over 60 by 2030 rising >50% The healthcare service should operate more effectively, to meet the increasing demands placed upon them as a result. This is exactly what integrated care does, by facilitating the easy sharing of information and preventing duplication, and which puts prevention first.
How Integrated Care Systems Work in England
In England, integrated care is delivered through Integrated Care Systems, commonly known as ICSs. These are statutory partnerships of organisations who plan, buy, and provide health and care services in their geographical area. As of 2022, 42 ICSs cover the whole of England, serving populations ranging from around 500,000 to 3 million people.
Each ICS is made up of two key bodies. The Integrated Care Board handles NHS resources and plans healthcare services for the area, while the Integrated Care Partnership brings together a broader alliance of partners including local government, voluntary organisation and community groups to develop health and care strategies.
| Component: | Description: | 2026 Status: |
|---|---|---|
| Number of ICBs | Integrated Care Boards managing NHS services | Currently 42, merging to 26 by April 2027 |
| Running Cost Reduction | Required efficiency savings | 50% reduction from 2025 levels |
| Neighbourhood Health Sites | Pilot programme areas | 43 sites selected in September 2025 |
| Digital Care Records | Care homes with digital records | 93% adoption as of March 2025 |
| Community Diagnostic Centres | Local diagnostic facilities | 170 open by March 2025 |
| NHS App Development | Full NHS front door capability | Targeted completion by 2028 |
The healthcare landscape continues to evolve. In 2025, the government announced that ICBs would need to reduce their running costs by 50%, leading to clustering arrangements and planned mergers. By April 2027, the current 42 ICBs will consolidate into approximately 26, creating larger footprints for more efficient service delivery.
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan and Neighbourhood Health
The government’s 10 Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, positions integrated care as absolutely essential to transforming healthcare across England. The plan centres on three strategic shifts that will reshape how care is delivered.
The Shift from Hospital to Community:
This may be the most important change for patients. The plan pledges to shift more care into the community and for neighbourhood teams to provide co-ordinated support for people living with long-term conditions, frailty and complex needs. GPs will be based in neighborhood health centres with a mix of other healthcare staff and services which can be accessed in the evening and at weekends.
And it’s not just medical care the centers will offer. They will provide services like debt counseling, employment support and weight management programs. The government has promised that every community will have a local health centre, beginning with the ones with the lowest levels of healthy life expectancy.
The Shift from Sickness to Prevention:
Instead of waiting for people to fall ill and then providing treatment, integrated care emphasizes prevention. Using analytics and partnerships in the community, health providers can identify people at risk of illness and intervene early. The plan also makes a pledge that 95% of people with complex needs will have an agreed care statement in place by 2027.
The Shift from Analogue to Digital:
Digitalisation is gaining pace throughout the NHS. The NHS App is being built to be the “digital front door” for the entire health service by 2028. Patients will be able to book appointments, access their health records, author care plans and self-refer for local tests and services. Integrate care records between organisations so clinicians can see a full picture of everyone’s medical history at the touch of a button.
Real Benefits of Integrated Care for Patients
So what does all this actually mean for you, Let’s look at the concrete ways integrated care improves the patient experience.
No More Repeating Your Story:
Among the many inconvenient aspects of old school healthcare is repetition. In integrated care, health workers can see your full medical history with one shared digital record. Clinical staff can instantly view previous diagnoses, responses to medication and treatment results. This takes the stress away from patients having to describe their symptoms again and again, and also nothing is overlooked or forgotten.
Better Coordinated Care:
All of a sudden, when the person who is your GP and your hospital consultant and your community nurse and maybe even social worker is employed by ‘the’ system, then actually care co-ordination becomes real. If they change your meds in hospital it’s on record with your GP. If a concerning symptom is noticed by your community nurse, they can alert the appropriate specialist in a timely manner. This smooth process minimizes errors, eliminates duplication and guarantees that all the people involved in your care work towards a common goal.
Care Closer to Home:
Integrated care also means a lot of services that used to be the province of a hospital can now be delivered in your community or even at home. Virtual wards enable patients to access hospital-quality care safely and conveniently in their homes. Community diagnostic centres move tests and scans closer to where people are living. For many, this involves less travel, less time off work and a lesser disruption to family life.
Faster Access When You Need It:
As part of its 10 Year Health plan, the Government has pledged to banish the “8am scramble” for GP appointments by training thousands more GPs and adding online advice into the NHS App. There will be access for people who require same-day GP appointments. Extended hours – According to the government, if you pay into its £20bn pot and they have delivered on their plans for GP ‘clusters’, you will be able to visit a neighbourhood health centre that is open 12 hours a day, six days a week.
Proactive Rather Than Reactive Care:
Perhaps the most transformative benefit is the shift towards proactive care. Integrated care enables a more preventative approach to healthcare. Through collaboration between various services, healthcare providers can focus on preventive measures and early intervention strategies. This means health concerns can be identified and addressed before they escalate to acute treatment, potentially avoiding hospital admissions altogether.
Evidence Does Integrated Care Actually Work
You might be wondering whether all these promised benefits actually materialise in practice. The evidence is encouraging, though researchers acknowledge the complexity of measuring outcomes.
A systematic review of UK and international evidence found that integrated care models can enhance patient satisfaction, increase perceived quality of care, and enable access to services. Studies have demonstrated that a relationship with a single general practitioner is associated with reduced secondary care use, including fewer emergency department attendances and decreased hospital admissions.
In North Central London, the core offers for community and mental health services have helped secure £55 million of additional funding for community health services over five years, reduced adult waiting lists by 5,500 patients since early 2024, and are projected to save 66,000 occupied bed days by the end of 2024/25.
Real-world examples show the difference integrated care makes. In Croydon, Integrated Neighbourhood Teams have provided nearly 3,500 residents with proactive care planning since launching in 2017. As a result, many of these individuals have been able to remain in their own homes rather than being admitted to hospital.
In Greater Manchester, data teams use tools to search GP systems for frailty scores, falls history, and long-term conditions, classifying patients into risk categories. Patients identified as at risk are invited for health checks and offered places on Falls Management Exercise programmes to improve strength, balance, and confidence.
What Integrated Care Means for Different Patient Groups
Integrated care particularly benefits certain groups who have traditionally struggled with fragmented services.
People with Long-Term Conditions:
If you’re managing diabetes, heart disease, or another long-term condition, integrated care means your care is coordinated across all the services you need. Your GP, specialist consultants, community nurses, and pharmacists all work together with access to the same information about your health and treatment plan.
Older Adults and Those Living with Frailty:
Multi-disciplinary teams including social workers, mental health workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, community matrons, and GPs work together to support older adults. In Haringey, such a team works with over 2,700 people a year, of whom 95% are aged 50 and over. Evaluation showed 94% of patients reported the service was “very good” or “good” and 70% reported they had met or progressed towards their agreed health goals.
People with Complex Needs:
It is people with multiple conditions, mental health needs or social care needs who gain the most from integrated approaches. Not, like a couple of different services they sort of have to go around, but more like taking an integrated approach that takes into account what they need across the board.
Children and Young People:
The children and young people element of the 10 Year Health Plan sets out how services for these groups would be delivered in collaboration between neighbourhood health centres, family hubs, schools, nurseries and colleges to provide swift support, including supporting for those with special educational needs or disabilities.
Challenges and What’s Being Done to Address Them
It would be misleading to suggest integrated care doesn’t face challenges. Researchers and healthcare leaders have identified several barriers that systems are working to overcome.
Financial pressures remain significant. ICS leaders have consistently identified the current financial position of the NHS and local government as the biggest barriers to progress. The requirement for ICBs to reduce running costs by 50% puts pressure on staff and makes balancing attention between daily operations and longer-term transformation difficult.
There’s also a tension between national priorities and local needs. Systems report struggling to balance national priorities with local transformation efforts, with a focus on acute sector metrics like A&E waiting times sometimes working against community-focused, preventative approaches.
However, progress is being made. The 2025 planning guidance details clear neighbourhood health frameworks, and the National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, launched September 2025, is currently working with 43 sites to fast track their delivery. And the merger of NHS England with the Department of Health and Social Care – due by April 2027 – is designed to streamline governance and provide local leaders with greater flexibility.
The Future of Integrated Care
Looking ahead, integrated care will become increasingly central to how healthcare is delivered in England. The 10 Year Health Plan sets out an ambitious vision where, by 2035, the share of expenditure on hospital care will fall, with proportionally greater investment in out-of-hospital care.
Personal health budgets will expand dramatically, with at least double the number of people offered one by 2028/29, one million people offered a personal health budget by 2030, and a universal offer for all who would benefit by 2035.
Digital transformation will accelerate, with care increasingly delivered digitally by default. The NHS aims to move from being primarily a bricks and mortar service to a digitally led one where patients can access care online and offline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
New financial models will reward providers based on how well they improve outcomes for each individual, as well as how well they involve people in the design of their care, rather than solely on whether they provide episodic instances of care.
How to Make the Most of Integrated Care
As a patient, there are several things you can do to benefit from integrated care arrangements.
Register for the NHS App:
If you haven’t already, download and set up the NHS App. It’s becoming the central way to access NHS services, book appointments, view your health records, and communicate with healthcare professionals.
Ask About Your Care Plan:
If you have complex health needs, ask your GP or care team about creating a personalised care plan. The NHS is committed to ensuring 95% of people with complex needs have an agreed care plan by 2027.
Know Your Local Services:
Scroll down to see what is open in your neck of the woods. You might be able to get help from your local community diagnostic centre, pharmacy services or a community health team without seeing a GP or going to hospital.
Share Information Proactively:
Even though it’s easier to share information via digital records, don’t assume everything or everyone is everywhere. If you have spent time in hospital or started taking a new medication, make your GP aware of this at your next visit.
Final Thoughts
” Integrated care is a key pillar of the transformation within the NHS that brings all health and care services together as one cooperative team rather than distinct entities. It provides a patient-centric approach, less frustration and an emphasis on preventing illness rather than just treating it. And with Integrated Care Systems, neighbourhood health services and digital tools patients are now provided with more joined-up care that meets the needs of their lives. Whether you have a long-term condition, look after someone elderly or vulnerable, or just want local services that work together to provide better care, integrated care means NHS services are joined up, convenient and deliver high-quality care.
