STPs are loose coalitions of agencies without statutory powers, so they cannot implement change, only encourage it. With little money left in the Transformation Fund, they have to “work around” their local NHS and social care organisations. At the launch of the King’s Fund report ‘Delivering sustainability and transformation plans: from ambitious proposals to credible plans’ (on 21st February) we heard that “with the right leadership” STPs could stabilise the NHS, that STPs mean that “politicians must be brave” (and not impede changes in the NHS in their constituencies), that NHSE and NHSI need to work as one (because they don’t), and that “there is no Plan B”.
Much of what was said at the launch was familiar. Plans to shift care into the community and integrate health and social care have surfaced several times in the last decades, leaving little trace. There is little new in the STPs, except perhaps the higher profile of local government. The NHS is famous for its lack of memory, a point made gently by Chris Ham of the Kings Fund at the end of the launch event. The language used was standard NHS speak – “challenges”, “conversations”, “journeys”, “taking plans forward”, “meaningful engagement” – and the speaker who described how the STPs were “moving fast” surprised those who thought progress was painfully slow.
It was not clear from the discussion that there really are many parts of the NHS or social care where practitioners are straining at the leash to change, are constrained by present structures and rules, and are ready to innovate given permission and leadership. Perhaps the Vanguard sites are such places.
The impression I left with is that transforming social care and health services that are struggling to survive is a David versus Goliath battle, in which STP advocates are hoping for a lucky shot. The Kings Fund launch did say that in a way, suggesting that STP footprints should prioritise two or three changes, in effect abandoning transformation as an objective. The NHS Confederation has since urged ‘patience’ in developing STPs, not the current unrealistic timetable. This may be an opening for Labour to gain some traction within the NHS, and avoid being marginalised into “Slash, Trash and Privatise” rejectionism. We need to look at provision over the whole health and social care system and sort out a governance framework for a single health and social care service. STPs are an attempt to bring together relevant players at a higher organisational level than Joint Planning Boards, so could offer the overview and design the governance. If the STPs were led by local government, with a topped-up Transformation Fund and a ten year remit to bring about change, we might just make haste slowly.