Greater Lincolnshire's Mayor calling for one NHS integrated care board for the area - instead of two
Dame Andrea Jenkyns wants to bring existing organisations together to help improve services and reduce costs
The Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire has called for a county-wide NHS integrated care board (ICB).
ICBs plan health services in a given area, managing the local NHS budget and working with NHS services locally, such as hospitals and GP surgeries, on a five year plan for integrated care. Currently, two ICBs cover the county of Lincolnshire. There is Lincolnshire ICB covering the county council area of the region.
Northern Lincolnshire, including Grimsby and Scunthorpe’s hospitals, are covered under Humber and North Yorkshire ICB. The Government is looking at reducing the number of ICBs, and a proposal has emerged to join together Lincolnshire ICB with ICBs covering Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, Dame Andrea Jenkyns (Reform UK), is unconvinced by this. Instead, she wants healthcare planning based on the whole of Lincolnshire.
She has written to Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting, suggesting a Greater Lincolnshire ICB. Dame Andrea states in the letter, “I am deeply concerned about the proposals to merge the Lincolnshire ICB with Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, and the Derby and Derbyshire ICB, who would then cover a population of 3.2 million people spread over more than 4,500 square miles of the country.”
Proposals to merge NHS ICBs across England aim to reduce their costs by 50 per cent, but cutting waste and duplication in administration. Noting the county’s large geographical size and dispersed populations, Dame Andrea continues in the letter: “The Combined County Authority aims to drive economic growth for the region, and integral to that will be high quality health services.
“Our residents deserve services that are tailored to their needs – particularly those in rural and coastal communities, and I don’t feel the proposals offer this. A Greater Lincolnshire ICB would be consistent and aligned with other public services whilst still enabling cost savings.”
It is understood the letter has been received and will be responded to. A Government spokesperson has told the LDRS: “This government has invested an extra £26 billion in our NHS to cut waiting times for patients. At the same time, we are cutting back on unnecessary bureaucracy and duplication across the health service – including in ICBs – so that we can reinvest the savings in the frontline.
“The Secretary of State is considering a range of options but no final decisions have been made. We would invite the Mayor to submit her ideas for how cost savings can otherwise be achieved, which we are happy to consider.”
The Government has a long-term ambition of aligning authority and health boundaries. However, it views a need to respond to immediate challenges facing the NHS, ensuring local systems can deliver services efficiently.
Decisions about specific ICB resourcing are for NHS England. It will be providing further information on expectations on how the ICB reductions should be delivered.