Medway and Swale Integrated Care Partnership
A wide range of stakeholders are involved in the Medway and Swale’s integrated care partnership, including the acute hospital, community healthcare providers, the mental health trust, councils, and commissioning colleagues, as well Healthwatch representatives.
The ICP plans to hold a single contract with Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, enabling local system partners to decide collectively how services are developed and provided.
Medway and Swale ICP covers a population of about 427,000 people. It has some of the highest levels of deprivation in the UK with some wards being in the 10 per cent most deprived areas in the country.
The percentage of adults classified as overweight or obese, and the number of people aged over 18 who smoke, is four per cent higher than the national average.
Twenty three per cent more people have an unplanned admission for a chronic condition that could be managed out of hospital, compared to the national average.
There is a higher rate of suicide, particularly in men, than nationally and there is a two per cent higher prevalence of depression.
Our one year cancer survival rates are five per cent lower than the national average.
Our priorities and ambitions
The ICP has a programme board which sets the direction and oversees the development and delivery of the areas of work. The work of the ICP is carried out through the following workstreams:
People
- Trust amongst our staff and leadership
- Self-management, patient engagement and empowerment
Aligned vision and journey
- Having an agreed strategic vision and delivery model across providers and commissioners
System wide interventions
- Open book accounting, population-based health and social care contracting and management
- Effective relationships to enable a flexible workforce
Shared infrastructures
- Having a transitional shared infrastructure plan with technology and digital interoperability at the core
Good governance
- Maturity of leadership teams with a unitary ICP Board and good governance structures in place.
What will it mean for patients?
- Better joined-up local services with patients at the centre: One service and one team.
- A joined-up focus for population health and the ability to target resources where they are needed most.
- Providers working together, not against each other, to deliver patient care.
- Improvement in access, experience and clinical/care outcomes.
- Ability of system to move quickly to improve services for patients
Our integrated care system (ICS)
An integrated care system is when all organisations involved in health and social care work together in different, more joined-up ways.
The focus is on providing care in a way that benefits patients - not what is easiest for organisations.
From family doctors, to mental health staff, community teams and our major hospitals, we’re going to be pooling our resources, skills and expertise to make care and support better for our residents.
In Kent and Medway all the NHS organisations and the Kent and Medway councils have been working together as a sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) since 2016. In April 2021 NHS England formally accredited the Kent and Medway as an Integrated Care System.
Full details about our ICS can be found here: www.kentandmedwayccg.nhs.uk/about-us/who-we-are/ICS
Medway and Swale ICP bulletins
These are regular newsletters to keep residents, patients and stakeholders informed and involved about local health and care services as part of a new ICP for Medway, Sittingbourne and Sheppey: