Achieving community oriented integrated care through the 2014 England GP contract

I have been involved in developing different forms of community-oriented integrated care since 1989 when I set up the Liverpool Primary Care Facilitation Project. I never cease to be amazed at how effective and enjoyable it is when primary care practitioners and managers can work together across organisational boundaries to improve healthcare for local populations. I also never cease to be surprised at how hard it seems to be for many to believe that such an approach could be even contemplated, let alone systematically taught, applied and evaluated. In West London, I have seen the valuable effect of the Integrated Care Pilot at providing one of the key ingredients of community-oriented integrated care - geographic clustering of general practices (termed Health Networks) that provide a regular space where people of different disciplines can come together to learn from and with each other, and co-create things that improve the health of local people. I believe that the April 2014 changes to the England GP contract provide an opportunity for these Health Networks to make a quantum leap in achieving community-oriented integrated care and with it a renaissance of the NHS.