Integrating organisations and services is a daunting task and there is plenty of evidence that outcomes can be poor if services are delivered in a fragmented way to people who need access to care. With that in mind, Government has placed a duty of partnership on the main statutory bodies and integration remains a major aspect of its ‘modernisation’ plans for public services.
The main purpose of this guide is to offer practical help to all those responsible for integrating services for children and for adults of all ages, but fundamental to the approach will be a search for greater clarity about how integration can directly benefit service users. The guide presents integration as a means to this end, and not as an end in itself.
Another of its objectives is to try to give readers an awareness of the wider picture, where a range of organisations can work together to improve community well-being and population health.