New Care Models Programme and vanguards
In January 2015, NHS England invited individual organisations and partnerships to apply to become 'vanguard' sites for the New Care Models Programme outlined in the the Five year forward view for the NHS in England.
On 10 March 2015, the first 29 vanguard sites were announced across three types of project:
- Integrated primary and acute care systems: joining up GP, hospital, community and mental health services (nine vanguards).
- Enhanced health in care homes: offering older people better, joined-up health, care and rehabilitation services (six vanguards).
- Multi-specialty community providers: moving specialist care out of hospitals into the community (14 vanguards).
In late July 2015, NHS England announced eight additional vanguards, to improve coordination in relation to urgent and emergency care.
On 25 September, Chief Executive of NHS England, Simon Stevens, outlined details of 13 new vanguard sites, designed to implement radical options for the organisation of hospital care. These acute care collaboration vanguards included large, well-known hospital trusts, such as Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. They were intended to spread excellence in hospital services and management across multiple geographies.
Three main approaches would be tested:
- The creation of NHS Foundation Groups to raise standards across a chain of hospitals.
- Individual clinical services at the local district hospital level being run onsite by regional specialists.
- The formation of ‘accountable clinical networks’ to integrate care across district general hospitals and teaching hospitals for key services such as cancer and mental health.
NHS England outlined that the 50 vanguards were key to the development of new care models, which would be ‘blueprints for the NHS moving forward and the inspiration to the rest of the health and care system’.
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Five million patients to benefit from new era of patient care.
NHS England; 10 March 2015.
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Spreading new care models.
NHS England; 23 February 2017.
NHS England.
Models of care.
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