BLMK ICS

Explaining the Bedford, Luton & Milton Keynes ICS

In 2016, NHS organisations and local councils came together to form 44 sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) covering the whole of England and set out their proposals to improve health and care for patients.

In Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, the partnership evolved to form an integrated care system (ICS), a new type of even closer collaboration. In an integrated care system, NHS organisations, in partnership with local councils and others, take collective responsibility for managing resources, delivering NHS standards, and improving the health of the population they serve.

BLMK was one of the first ten ICSs – the NHS Long Term Plan calls for everywhere to have an ICS by 2021.