Half of ICSs have not published board papers

There are 21 systems, out of the total 42, which have published no papers on their website throughout last year. Sixteen of those have no papers from prior to 2021 either.

Not having published the papers is also a strong indication the ICSs have not been holding routine public board meetings or joint committee meetings.

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West; and Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are some of the large systems which published no documents through the year.

Several of the ICSs told HSJ they were not legally required to hold open meetings or to publish papers until they become a legal entity, which is due to happen in July this year under the Health and Care Bill.

However, it has been seen as good practice, with 20 ICSs choosing to hold an open meeting with papers during 2021. NHS England said in a policy document in September 2019 that ICS partnership boards/joint committees, despite not then being statutory bodies, “should be required to: make decisions in public meetings, minute and make public its discussions and decisions [and] publish board papers in advance of meetings”.

This followed the Commons health and social care select committee recommending that “we expect ICSs to meet the highest standards of openness and transparency in the conduct of their affairs by holding meetings in public and publishing board papers and minutes”.

The 21 systems which have published papers for open meetings include Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, which held the first in May and has since held another two; and Lancashire and South Cumbria ICS, which began publishing papers for open board meetings in December 2020 and has since held several more. 

HSJ approached 22 systems for comment where it could not find board/committee papers, seven of which responded. Most said meetings would be held and papers published once they become statutory organisations. They also said their respective clinical commissioning groups – which are due to be abolished in July – continued to publish papers, including ICS development plans.

A Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICS spokesman said: “Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System is not a statutory organisation and therefore does not have a board.

“All formal reporting and decisions are formally reported through the statutory public boards of Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight CCG and Portsmouth CCG.”

North East and North Cumbria ICS said that, while recent board papers have not been published, transparency can be demonstrated “at every level of the ICS”, through CCGs and councils’ joint overview and scrutiny committees.

Corrected at 8.50am on 12 January, to reflect the that we were sent a link after publication to Birmingham and Solihull ICS papers, published on the corresponding CCG’s website.