Health and care organisations in B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) are set to work in an even more joined up way after NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI) said they had met the criteria to become an Integrated Care System (ICS).

cal authorities, a mental health trust, an ambulance trust and voluntary sector organisations have been working together since 2016 as part of the BSW Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP).

The progress made through joint working, especially throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, has now been formally recognised by NHS England and Improvement through official designation as an ICS – working as the BSW Partnership.

Tracey Cox, Senior Responsible Officer for the BSW Partnership, said: “I am delighted that the dedicated approach to breaking down barriers and working together across the BSW Partnership had been recognised by NHSEI through our designation as an Integrated Care System.

“We have come a long way as a (now former) sustainability and transformation partnership and more recently our successful joint working in response to Covid-19 has shown that we can achieve great things by working together for the health and wellbeing of local people.

“We’re confident we can build on our solid foundations and are looking forward to the next chapter as we develop a truly integrated health and care system.”

Working together as the BSW Partnership, health and care partners will prioritise issues that matter to local communities, as well as managing health and care provision during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.