Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that Integrated Care Provider contracts do not divert resources away from acute services operated by the same provider.

NHS England launched a 12 week public consultation on the proposed contracting arrangements for integrated care providers (ICPs) on 3 August 2018 which concluded on 26 October. More information is available at the following link:

https://www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/proposed-contracting-arrangements-for-icps/

The consultation documents provide more detail about the NHS England’s current proposals for ICPs, including:

- An overview of integrated budgets; and

- A summary of the types of organisations that might hold the proposed ICP Contract.

The draft ICP Contract has been designed to enable a more collaborative, integrated model of care to be delivered, focusing on prevention.

The ICP proposals would do nothing to change the level of resources available in local areas, and any decision to award a new contract or change existing contracts would be for local commissioners following full engagement with patients, the public and existing providers.