Developing INTs

The development of Integrated Neighbourhood Teams is being undertaken against the backdrop of:

• Services, under immense workload pressure, often becoming increasingly fragmented (less integrated) and inwardly facing as they seek to protect their capacity.

• The history of the NHS struggling with meaningful integration for decades despite many structural attempts at reform.

 The words associated with INTs, such as ‘local’, ‘joined up’, ‘integrated’, ‘population health’, ‘proactive’ and ‘person centred’ are not new and feature in many plans, roadmaps, strategies and web pages - but they remain elusive in practice. The history of integration and other improvement initiatives suggest that the root causes and complexity of fragmented services are often poorly understood, that solutions are often just sticking plasters, and that plans are rushed.

For the promise of INTs to be achieved for the benefit of populations served, INTs need to be approached differently from other integration initiatives. In developing them we need to challenge the deep-seated assumptions that have shaped health and social care; no easy task and one that requires support and expert approaches. We help those involved in developing and leading INTs through place based work, expert team coaching, data analytics, executive guidance, community asset development and development programmes.