Home / Resources & Guidance / ICS General Guidance

Please see below for Care England ICS related documents and historic stakeholder guidance up to 30 June 2022.


Summary of the changes made to the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care – Letter – 30 June 2022
This document sets out the changes in the 2022 update to the National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) and NHS-funded Nursing Care (FNC). There are no substantive policy changes: the guidance and associated tools have been brought in line with wider legislative changes, including those to be brought about by the Health and Care Act 2022. References to CHC in this document refer to all the processes covered by the Framework, including CHC, FNC and Fast Track.


Care England ICS Guide – Last updated 29 June 2022
To help Care England members understand the general structural organisation and terminology used within an ICS, we have created a guide for members. This guide is to help Care England members understand the structure of an ICS, what the membership and function of each governing body are, what they mean for social care providers, and how providers can get involved with their system. It is important to note that while this guide highlights the key levels within the structure of an ICS, each system can differ in its operational framework.


Developing statutory integrated care systems – Slide Deck – December 2021
This presentation was shown to Care England at the care provider and NHSEI fortnightly call. The slide-deck highlights the key elements of an ICS and how social care fits within each system.


Legislative measures to support recovery and reform Presentation – August 2021

This presentation gives an overview of the integrated care partnership (ICP) and asks four questions:

  1. What does a functioning ICP look like to you?
  2. What would reassure you that your ASC representative on an ICP fully represent your ideas, needs, and concerns, along with those of all other ASC providers in the ICS? Whilst maintaining the permissive model?
  3. What should the responsibilities of an ASC representative be in an ICP? What could representatives do as well as sitting on the ICP?
  4. Is there existing infrastructure that we can build on (e.g. care associations)? And how can central government support that (guidance, best practice)?

Care England’s Brief for members on the latest ICS guidance (August – September) – 15.09.21

This document aims to summarise and extract the key points that impact social care from the latest ICS guidance published throughout August and September. Please send any comments to lholmes@careengland.org.uk.


Thriving places Guidance on the development of place-based partnerships as part of statutory integrated care systemsPublished 02 September 2021

This document seeks to support all partner organisations in integrated care systems (ICSs) to collectively define their place-based partnership working, and to consider how they will evolve to support the transition to the new statutory ICS arrangements, anticipated from April 2022. It reflects learning to date, and the intention is to support partners to build on existing arrangements, not to disregard partnership approaches that are already working well.


Building strong integrated care systems everywhere ICS implementation guidance on working with people and communitiesPublished 02 September 2021

This guidance sets out 10 principles for how integrated care boards (ICBs) can develop their approaches to working with people and communities, and the expectations.


Building strong integrated care systems everywhere ICS implementation guidance on effective clinical and care professional leadershipPublished 02 September 2021

This guidance supports the development of distributed clinical and care professional leadership across integrated care systems (ICSs). It describes ‘what good looks like’ in this regard, based on an extensive engagement exercise involving over 2,000 clinical and care professional leaders from across the country, led by a multiprofessional steering group.


Building strong integrated care systems everywhere ICS implementation guidance on partnerships with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector – Published 02 September 2021

This guidance is for health and care leaders from all organisations in ICSs that are developing partnerships across local government, health, housing, social care and the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector.


Interim guidance on the functions and governance of the integrated care board (ICB)Published August 2021

This interim guidance sets out the proposed core components of integrated care board (ICB) governance arrangements as outlined in the Health and Care Bill and the ICS Design Framework. It confirms the expected mandatory requirements (subject to legislation), as well as key considerations for system leaders as they design arrangements for April 2022.


Building strong integrated care systems everywhere: guidance on the ICS people functionPublished August 2021

This document forms part of guidance that supplements the ICS Design Framework. It builds on the priorities set out in the People Plan


HR framework for developing integrated care boardsPublished August 2021

This HR framework for developing integrated care boards applies to NHS organisations affected by the proposed legislative changes as they develop and transition towards the new statutory integrated care boards (ICBs). These organisations will include CCGs and other NHS employers hosting ICS staff or shared services.


Working together at scale: guidance on provider collaborativesPublished August 2021

This guidance outlines expectations for how providers should work together in provider collaboratives, offering principles to support local decision-making and suggesting the function and form that systems and providers may wish to consider