Councillors will hear an update on progress to joining up services for health and social care in County Durham next week. Advancements with the Integration of Health and Social Care will be discussed by Durham County Council’s Cabinet when it meets on Wednesday, 13 March. In April 2018 a report was presented to Cabinet and to the governing bodies of both North Durham and Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) which outlined a proposed direction of travel in developing a Health and Social Care Plan for the county. Since then the new community contract for NHS services went live in October 2018 and the Director of Integrated Community Services has brought together the Integrated Senior Leadership Team, aligning health and social care to improve outcomes for local people. Next steps include further progress to the Integrated Strategic Commissioning Function which would capture commissioning of services for all age groups and aims to maximise the use of local resources. The benefits of integrated working include an improved approach to prevention, less duplication across the system making it easier to navigate for the public and for staff, meaning more people are connected and supported in their own communities. Councillors will also hear that Teams Around Patients (TAPs), which involves mental health community nurses, GPs and social workers, have been providing proactive care and supporting patients to be as independent as possible. This has resulted in improving the level of care received in care homes and reducing the length of hospital stays and re-admissions. Overall relationships and communication between GPs and community services have improved and the new ways of working have resulted in a reduction of duplication within the system, maximising resources and using them more effectively. Cllr Lucy Hovvels, Durham County Council Cabinet member for adult and health services, said: “In our county there is a strong long-standing track record of effective partnership and integrated working. We have already made significant progress and are looking forward to working with our partners so we can deliver the best care for our communities.” Dr Stewart Findlay, chief officer at NHS Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield CCG and North Durham CCG said: “In County Durham we have always enjoyed a positive working relationship between health and social care. “The new community services contract that launched last year has integrated community nurses, social care and Primary Care at a locality level. This has already improved the coordination of care people receive in their own homes and our Teams around Patients will become the Primary Care Networks of the future as described in the NHS Long Term Plan. “We look forward to further strengthening our relationship through the integration of commissioning for adults and children if this proposal is approved.”