Taurus Healthcare recently provided an opportunity for all working in General Practice to find out more about Integrated Care Systems (ICS).

In particular, why ICS was happening, the role that General Practice would play, the opportunities and challenges.

The session was chaired by Dr Nigel Fraser, ICS lead for Herefordshire General Practice and Chairman of Taurus Healthcare, and featured a presentation from independent management consultant, Mike Farrar.

Mike emphasised the critical role that General Practice would play in the success of the ICS programme. He said that General Practice was the ‘beating heart’ of the healthcare system and that unless General Practice was engaged, involved and taking a leading role, ICS would not happen.

How General Practice gets involved was of critical importance. A key emphasis of Mike’s presentation was collaboration. Mike stated that Herefordshire was in a great position because of the way General Practice has already been working closely together, especially during the pandemic. 

He encouraged Herefordshire General Practice to think about its ‘terms of engagement’, ie what would it need to facilitate the successful transition to integrated care systems.

The session also included a perspective from Dr John Stevenson, Clinical Director, Wargrave, Belmont and Cantilupe PCN. Speaking from his own experiences, Dr John said that the way that PCNs grasped the challenge of responding to COVID19 was an excellent example of what could be achieved through collaborative working.

Dr Lauren Parry, Associate Medical Director at Taurus Healthcare and practising GP, added the patients’ perspective. “Working as an integrated system with General Practice at its heart is better for patients,” she said.

Finally, Dr Mike Hearne, MD at Taurus Healthcare, provided an overview of how the organisation and Herefordshire General Practice work together. He stressed Taurus Healthcare’s role as the "Sixth Herefordshire PCN, providing support when General Practice is closed.”

If you didn’t manage to get to the event, it is available to watch online via Teamnet. If you do not have access to Teamnet, please email comms@taurushealthcare.co.uk.