2017-19 Integration and Better Care Fund
Executive Summary Why Integrate? People need health, social care, housing and other public services to work seamlessly together to deliver better quality care. More joined up services help improve the health and care of local populations and may make more efficient use of available resources.
How is Integration being done? There is no single way to integrate health and care. Some areas are looking to scale-up existing initiatives such as the New Care Models programme and the Integration Pioneers. Others are using local devolution or Sustainability and Transformation Plans as the impetus for their integration efforts.
One part of the solution – the Better Care Fund The Better Care Fund is the only mandatory policy to facilitate integration. It brings together health and social care funding, with a major injection of social care money announced at Spring Budget 2017. This policy framework for the Fund covers two financial years to align with NHS planning timetables and to give areas the opportunity to plan more strategically. Details of the financial breakdown are below:
Better Care Fund funding contribution (£bn)
2017-18
2018-19
Minimum NHS (clinical commissioning groups) contribution
£3.582
£3.65
Disabled Facilities Grant (capital funding for adaptations to houses)
£0.431
£0.468
New grant allocation for adult social care (Improved Better Care Fund)*
£1.115
£1.499
Total
£5.128 billion
£5.617 billion
*Combined amounts announced at Spending Review 2015 and Spring Budget 2017
Many areas choose to pool more than is required. For 2017-19, there are four national conditions, rather than the previous eight: 1. Plans to be jointly agreed 2. NHS contribution to adult social care is maintained in line with inflation 3. Agreement to invest in NHS commissioned out-of-hospital services, which may include 7 day services and adult social care 5
