Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide guidance to the new integrated care system bodies on how to take due consideration of feedback from health providers, including community pharmacy.

The Bill intends to build on the work of existing non-statutory integrated care systems (ICSs) by establishing integrated care boards (ICBs) and requiring the creation of integrated care partnerships (ICPs) in each local system area.

The ICP engagement document, published in September 2021, reiterated the importance of health providers contributing to ICBs and ICPs. We would expect ICPs to have input from clinical and professional experts, including primary, community and secondary care to ensure a strong understanding of local needs and opportunities to innovate health improvements. NHS England will produce guidance for ICBs. Its design framework states that primary care, including community pharmacy, should be represented and involved in decision-making at all levels.