Dear colleagues,

Nine councils in the Innovation Forum for high-performing local authorities voluntarily set a target of reducing hospital bed days for people aged 75+ by 20% over the three years to 2006/07. This kind of objective was new for the NHS, as much as for local government. It was motivated by a concern among the councils that hospital admission exposed residents to risks to their independence and well-being which should be avoided wherever possible. They wished to demonstrate the value of the local authority community leadership or, as it has since become known, ‘place making’ role. Their success in meeting this target supports the new NHS White Paper’s proposed transfer of functions and responsibilities from PCTs to councils. It suggests that councils can successfully adopt, in appropriate circumstances, the lead responsibility for ensuring strategic co-ordination of place-based commissioning in health and well-being.

This article is written by Gerald Wistow, Visiting Professor in Social Policy, and Catherine Henderson, Research Officer, PSSRU, London School of Economics, UK. We are pleased to make this article available free of charge. To view the full article, published in Journal of Integrated Care, click here.

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Key articles recently published:

· Understanding policy – The three Ps in the NHS White Paper: Partnership, Privatisation and Predation: which way will it go and does it matter?

· Knowledge base – What is ‘More Integration’ between health and social care? Results of a survey of primary care trusts and directors of adult social services

· Feature – Integrating health and social care teams in Salford

· Older people’s perceptions of assistive technology – an exploratory pan-European study

· Legal – From old patchwork to new patchwork? The Law Commission proposals for reform of adult social care law.

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