Integration across the border
Integration in Wales and England and the NHS.
Three and a half hours on integration across the border: what integration is for, Regional Partnership Boards in Wales, integrated care systems in England, the Senedd and the NHS in England.
- Level
- Focus
- Learning time
- 3 hours 30 minutes
- Where
- Communities and systems
- Price
- £69
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion, or Certificate of Completion and Assessment with a short assessment
Overview and Outcomes.
Who It's For
Leaders working with health and care partners on both sides of the border between Wales and England
Overview
Many leaders work with partners on both sides of the border, and the systems they meet differ in law, structure and culture. Part of Joining up care, this course starts with what integration is for, through Walter Leutz's three levels, the rainbow model and Huxham and Vangen on why collaboration is hard. It turns to Wales, where Regional Partnership Boards carry real money under Part 9 of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, then to England's integrated care systems under the Health and Care Act 2022. It concludes with the Senedd's reserved powers model and the Sewel convention, and the NHS in England.
Aims
Above all, it seeks to give leaders a confident, comparative understanding of how integration is organised in Wales and England, so that they can work across the border with fewer surprises, engage the right decision makers, and ask what any new structure is really for before reaching for one.
In summary, you will be able to:
- Explain why integration is a means rather than an end, using Leutz's three levels and the rainbow model.
- Assess whether a partnership board genuinely shapes decisions or simply approves papers, drawing on A Healthier Wales.
- Identify whether a policy area is devolved or reserved, and apply four durable questions about who plans, who buys and who is accountable.
What you'll develop
Through this Focus course, you will build the ability to:
- Explain why integration is a means rather than an end, and use Leutz's three levels and the rainbow model to judge how much integration a group of people needs and where it has to happen.
- Explain why Wales plans integration by region and how the Welsh model, in which health boards both plan and deliver care, shapes partnership and accountability.
- Describe how an integrated care system works under the Health and Care Act 2022, including the distinct roles of integrated care boards, integrated care partnerships and health and wellbeing boards.
- Identify whether a policy area is devolved, reserved or partly devolved under the reserved powers model, and why that decides who you engage.
- Explain the arm's length body model, how it differs from direct delivery, and the role of the Secretary of State's powers of direction.
- Assess what the evidence says integration reliably delivers, and set out an honest case that does not promise quick cuts in admissions or cost.
- Outline the five principles of the 2014 Act and the Part 9 duties of Regional Partnership Boards, from membership and planning to pooled funds and engagement.
- Outline the 2025 to 2026 reforms, from the abolition of NHS England and board mergers to the Health Bill and the 10 Year Health Plan, distinguishing what is proposed from what is law.
Built from 2 parts.
3 hours 30 minutes of learning.
- 01Two nations, one ambitionIntegration in Wales and EnglandBitesize · Leading Health and Social Care Integration3 modules
- 02Wales and the NHSThe Senedd and the NHS in EnglandBitesize · The Public Sector2 modules