South Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS) starts work on Friday 1st July

An Integrated Care System (ICS) is a partnership of organisations that come together to plan and deliver joined up health and care services, aiming to improve the lives of people who live and work in their area.

ICS's are due to formally start work on 1st July 2022. They will replace the current system of local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) for planning and delivering care in each area. There will be 42 ICS's across England - ours is called South Yorkshire ICS. You can find out more about ICS's on the NHS website.

This move to a South Yorkshire footprint represents a change to decision-making in health and care services, and we have been working to ensure that we will be able to effectively raise the issues that matter to local people through this larger system. 

We will be working closely with other local Healthwatch in South Yorkshire during this transition period and beyond. You can read our joint statement below:

Healthwatch in South Yorkshire – Healthwatch Barnsley, Healthwatch Doncaster, Healthwatch Rotherham and Healthwatch Sheffield

The introduction of South Yorkshire Integrated Care System (ICS) gives us a unique chance to feed people’s views into the planning and running of services – especially the voices of those who are not being heard now.

At the four local Healthwatch in South Yorkshire (Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield), we will work hard to make sure the views of local people are represented in the new NHS structure. We are also committed to playing our part by championing equality and inclusion, and helping services reach every bit of the community.  

When services listen and act on the experiences of patients and service users, it results in better care. We have a real chance if we can get the new system right by creating a true partnership between services and the public here in South Yorkshire.  

The move to integrated care systems generally should herald a culture shift in the engagement of people and communities, so we can move beyond fragmented consultation when health and care services are legally required to, towards meaningful and proactive listening at all levels of decision-making.