Ham, C., & Curry, K. (2011). Integrated care summary: What is it? Does it work? What does it mean for the NHS? The King’s Fund. Retrieved from http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/articles/integrated_care_ham.html.

“The aim of this paper is to describe the different forms of integrated care and to summarise evidence on their impact. The paper is based on a major review published by The King’s Fund (Curry and Ham 2010) and has been prepared in the light of the increased interest in integrated care arising out of the work of the NHS Future Forum and the government’s response. Key messages are:

• integrated care takes many different forms and may involve whole populations, care for particular groups or people with the same diseases, and co-ordination of care for individual service users and carers
• there is good evidence of the benefits of integrated care for whole populations, as seen in organisations such as Kaiser Permanente, the Veterans Health Administration and integrated medical groups in the United States
• there is good evidence of the benefits of integrated care for older people as seen in areas like Torbay
• there is mixed evidence of the benefits of integrated care for people with long-term conditions like diabetes and for people with complex needs
• there is evidence of the benefits of care co-ordination for individual service users and carers, especially when multiple approaches are used together
• integrated care in the NHS needs to be pursued at all levels to overcome the risks of fragmentation, and of service users ‘falling between the cracks’ of care
• policy-makers need to act on the evidence not by promoting a preferred approach but by supporting clinical and managerial leaders to adapt the ingredients of integrated care discussed in this briefing to improve outcomes for the populations they serve.”