Achieving better integration between health, social care and support organisations

One of the current aims, and challenges, is how to achieve better integration between health, social care and support organisations. The system has been trying to integrate for decades but has yet to achieve any real progress. Integration aims to deliver a number of benefits, including being a more cost-effective way to deliver care. An increasing number of patients have complex co-morbidities, so professionals will need to work in an integrated way and across organisation boundaries to ensure that patients’ needs are met and that care is delivered in a joined-up and holistic way. Despite this, however, the system is still disputing what is truly implied by ‘integration’ and what needs to be done to finally achieve it.

• http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/integrating_health.html
• http://www.rand.org/pubs/technical_reports/TR1164.html

• How would full integration of health and social care services affect the workforce?
• What are plausible scenarios of ‘integrated services' in the future and what workforce structures will support these scenarios?
• What have been the major barriers to integrating health and social care?