Morning, Tuesday, 9th February 2027
Online
This conference will consider next steps for integrated care systems and commissioning in England.
Areas for discussion include commissioning capability and system readiness, neighbourhood health and service redesign, funding and provider arrangements, and data, interoperability and digital infrastructure. The planned agenda will also look at governance, accountability and ensuring that public and patients’ views are factored into decision-making as the new commissioning model develops.
It will bring together stakeholders and policymakers to examine the way forward in the context of the Health Bill currently progressing through Parliament, the Strategic Commissioning Framework and the Neighbourhood Health Framework, alongside changes to ICB operating models and the transfer of functions from NHS England. Delegates will assess preparations for the planned transfer, subject to parliamentary approval, of most remaining NHS England direct commissioning responsibilities to ICBs from April 2027, including how responsibilities should be divided between local, cross-system and national levels, how specialist capability can be maintained, and what ICBs need in place to plan and commission effectively through the transition.
The agenda will consider how strategic commissioning is translated into neighbourhood delivery, including alignment between NHS and local government priorities, service redesign closer to home, and the funding and provider arrangements needed to support this. Future payment and pooled-funding approaches will be assessed, looking at provider relationships and incentives for prevention and innovation, alongside maintaining quality and continuity as services change.
Further sessions will examine governance and accountability as responsibilities are redistributed between DHSC, ICBs, local authorities and providers, including the implications for local government and clinical involvement in decision-making and for patient and public voice, with proposals to abolish Healthwatch and transfer its functions to ICBs and local authorities. Delegates will consider the relationship between local autonomy, national priorities and financial pressures, alongside oversight, health inequalities and outcomes. We also expect discussion on the role of public health, data and digital infrastructure in strategic commissioning.
Overall areas for discussion include:
- commissioning capability & April 2027 readiness:
- integrated needs assessment, health economics and population-health analysis - analytical, commercial and resource allocation skills
- Strategic Commissioning Development Programme - transfer of specialised services, primary care, screening, vaccination, and health and justice commissioning - seven Offices for Pan-ICB Commissioning
- continuity of expertise, leadership capacity, contracts and decision-making - determining the appropriate local, pan-ICB and national commissioning level - maintaining trusted local relationships
- payment, pooled funding & financial incentives:
- development of the 2027/28 NHS Payment Scheme - payment mechanisms for neighbourhood health
- incentives for prevention and shifting activity from hospital to community - reducing cost-shifting between NHS and local government
- Better Care Fund reform from 2027/28 - Section 75 and pooled-budget arrangements - intermediate care, reablement and discharge
- provider markets, contracting & service design:
- Provider Selection Regime - redesigned pathways and changing provider models - quality, continuity, integration, transparency and value
- market shaping across NHS, primary and community care, VCSE and independent providers - contract management, procurement and commissioning for innovation
- single and multi-neighbourhood provider contracts and integrated health organisations
- neighbourhood operating models & pathways:
- proactive care for priority cohorts - frailty, care home residents, housebound people and those approaching the end of life
- case finding, urgent community response, same-day urgent care and intermediate care capacity - workload and transfer of clinical responsibility from hospital to community settings
- neighbourhood footprints and multidisciplinary teams - referral and escalation routes - interfaces between general practice, community services and social care
- data, interoperability & population health intelligence:
- the Single Patient Record - interoperability with existing clinical and shared care systems - role-based access, consent, cyber security and information governance
- person-level data for population health management and commissioning - predictive modelling and evaluation - common data and referral standards across NHS and social care settings
- governance, patient voice & accountability:
- evolving ICB governance, planning arrangements and footprints - Health and Wellbeing Boards, the future of integrated care partnerships, local authorities and clinical leaders - potential conflicts of interest
- transfer of Healthwatch functions to ICBs and local authorities - independent challenge, co-production and patient experience
- local autonomy and national priorities - the NHS Oversight Framework - health inequalities, outcomes and accountability - measuring impact across systems and neighbourhoods
