News / Vanguard sites to pilot delivery models

The vanguard sites will implement the new models of care outlined in the Five-year forward view. They include nine primary and acute care systems (PACS), which will have integrated GP, hospital, community and mental health services. There are also 14 multispecialty community providers (MCPs), which will aim to move care out of hospital and into the community. The remaining six sites will provide enhanced care in care homes.

From April, the sites will have access to a £200m transformation fund and national support tailored to their needs.NHS England said this would help them develop local health and care services to keep people well, and bring together home care, mental health and community nursing, GP services and hospitals for the first time since 1948.

The schemes will be evaluated and best practice spread to other parts of the country.

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens (pictured) said: ‘The NHS now has its own long-term plan, backed by just about everybody, and today we’re firing the starting gun. Instead of the usual top-down administrative tinkering, we’re backing radical care redesign by frontline nurses, doctors and other staff – in partnership with their patients and local communities. We’re going to see distinctive solutions to shared challenges, which the whole of the NHS will be able to learn from.’