Challenges and chances for local health and social care integration – Lessons from Greater Manchester, England
ISSN: 1476-9018
Article publication date: 28 December 2021
Issue publication date: 12 April 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs) were introduced to England, asking 44 local areas to submit their health and social care plans for the period from October 2016 to March 2021. This study aims to offer a deeper understanding of the complex structure in the local practice, and to discuss the associated challenges and chances.
Design/methodology/approach
Documentary analysis, qualitative interviews and questionnaire survey are used for this study. Findings have been compared and analysed thematically.
Findings
The study participants reported that apart from pooled budgets, past collaborative experience and local leadership are crucial elements for transforming health and social care integration in Greater Manchester (GM). Also, this study provides policy recommendations to promote effective collaborative partnerships in local practices and mitigate local inequity of funding progress.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this paper cannot be extrapolated to all stakeholders due to the limited samples. Meanwhile, some of the discussions about the case of GM may not be transferrable to other STPs.
Originality/value
This study argues that the success of pooled budgets is the result, rather than the cause, of effective negotiations between various stakeholders; and therefore, there is no evidence suggesting that pooled budgets can resolve the discoordination of health and social care. Moreover, due to the bottom-up approach adopted by STPs, more effective boroughs tend to receive additional funding, resulting in an increasing gap of development between effective and ineffective boroughs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the participants of this study, and also thank Professor Sir John Hills and Professor Yu-Wen Chen for their constructive comments and suggestions. This article was subsidised for English editing by National Taiwan University under the Excellence Improvement Program for Doctoral Students (Grant Number 108-2926-I-002-002-MY4), sponsored by Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.
Citation
Chang, M.-F. (2022), "Challenges and chances for local health and social care integration – Lessons from Greater Manchester, England", Journal of Integrated Care, Vol. 30 No. 2, pp. 146-159. https://doi.org/10.1108/JICA-07-2021-0040
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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