Introducing North West London’s integrated care system (ICS)
Brent is covered by the North West London ICS, alongside seven neighbouring boroughs such as Harrow, Hillingdon and Ealing. It brings together health and care organisations with four core objectives:
- Improve outcomes in population health and health care
- Prevent ill health and tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access
- Enhance productivity and value for money
- Support broader economic and social development
This video from the Kings Fund gives a clear overview of how NHS England works, and how it is changing with the introduction of the ICS
Our role
The role of Healthwatch Brent, and other local Healthwatch organisations, will be to make sure your views are represented within the ICS, and to give a voice to patients and residents who are least likely to be heard when decisions are made. We will also ensure service providers are engaging with communities and residents.
Public involvement is a fundamental part of how the ICS should operate, and North West London have laid out their plans for this in an involvement charter which reiterates the importance of involving members of the public in all decisions that affect them, of co-designing services so that they meet the needs of the community, and of keeping people informed about the decisions that are being made.
Want to know more?
The NWL ICS website has lots of information about how the system will work, as well as key updates about work being done with local services and their plans for the future. Access it here.
