ICBs told to prepare winter plans including ‘sufficient’ same-day GP appointments
NHS England has told ICBs to complete their draft winter plans, including ‘sufficient’ same-day urgent GP appointments, by the end of next month.
A letter to ICBs, signed by NHS England chief operating officer Sarah-Jane Marsh, said that every local area must have a ‘robust, clinically led and deliverable winter plan’, with drafts completed by the end of August.
The plans should include ‘sufficient commissioned capacity’ across primary care, including ‘same day urgent appointments, enhanced access, NHS 111 direct booking, and out-of-hours provision’ alongside delivery of the seasonal vaccination campaigns.
They will be tested at the ‘NHS England regional stress test exercises’ in September, and should be signed off by boards and submitted by the end of that month, the letter said.
Every ICB and provider should have a named executive winter lead, accountable for ‘preparedness and resource’, the letter added.
It said: ‘ICBs are responsible for the winter plan for their area, agreed with all partners and signed off by their board.
‘Plans must be built on a whole-area demand and capacity analysis with robust planning assumptions, tested against surge and extreme surge scenarios.’
NHS England stressed that ICBs need to lead on prevention as they step into their role as strategic commissioners.
The letter added: ‘As strategic commissioners, ICBs must lead prevention now – vaccination uptake (particularly maximising uptake in children to help reduce spread), and proactive support for people most at risk from winter viruses and cold weather – and commission the right level of activity for winter so that people are treated closer to home wherever possible.’
Regional teams will oversee the winter preparedness and performance at ICBs, NHS England added.
It added: ‘In line with the model region blueprint, regional teams will oversee winter preparedness and performance across providers and ICBs, arrange the September stress test exercises, assure plans across their geographies and co-ordinate mutual aid across ICB boundaries where needed, including specialised services and pathways commissioned outside of ICB arrangements.’
The letter also said that ICBs need to lead the winter response day-to-day through their coordination centre, operating seven days a week.
Ms Marsh also said: ‘We will share performance data to support planning by the end of July via NHS Futures, run online sessions in July on improving vaccination uptake, and publish further guidance on urgent community response and community beds shortly.
‘We will continue to work with ICBs and providers to support communication on 111, Pharmacy First, vaccination, and alternatives to ED.’
NHS England has told ICBs there needs to be sufficient commissioned capacity across:
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Primary care: same day urgent appointments, enhanced access, NHS 111 direct booking, community pharmacy and out-of-hours provision including during holidays and over Christmas, alongside delivery of the seasonal vaccination campaigns;
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Community services: urgent community response, virtual wards and Hospital at Home, with senior clinical decision-making accessible through a single point of access at least 12 hours a day, 7 days a week;
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Mental health: resilient all-age crisis services, including urgent mental health helplines via NHS 111, crisis alternatives and liaison psychiatry, with crisis plans in place ahead of winter for high-risk patients and frequent attenders;
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Social care and intermediate care: commissioned jointly with local authorities, with discharge planned together, sufficient capacity through winter and agreed plans to reduce hospital occupancy ahead of Christmas;
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Infection prevention and control (IPC): commissioning safe IPC practice in care homes and the wider care sector.
A version of this story was previously published on Pulse’s sister title Healthcare Leader
