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<p>In March 2017, the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for
Communities and Local Government, working with the Local Government Association, Association
of Directors of Adult Social Services and NHS England, published the Integration and
Better Care Fund Policy Framework 2017-19. The document includes the policy framework
for the implementation of the Better Care Fund (BCF), which is the first national,
mandatory integration policy. The BCF has helped to join up health and care services
so people can manage their own health and wellbeing, and live independently in their
communities for as long as possible. In both 2015-16 and 2016-17, local areas voluntarily
pooled more than the minimum required taking the total to £5.3 billion and £5.9 billion
respectively.</p><p> </p><p>The Policy Framework also sets out our proposals for going
beyond the BCF towards further integration, including that areas will be allowed to
‘graduate’ once they have demonstrated that they have moved beyond the requirements
of BCF reporting and are exemplars of integration. To help local areas understand
whether they are meeting our integration ambition, the Department is developing integration
metrics for assessing progress, particularly at the interface where health and social
care interact. The Department is working with the Social Care Institute for Excellence
to better understand good practice in integrated care and how the Department could
develop a more balanced set of measures of success in this area.</p>
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