The King's Fund annual conference

Conference sessions explored what the landscape for integrated care systems looks like post Hewitt review. Leaders from across the system shared their approaches to reducing health inequalities and their priorities for improving people’s access to, and provision of, out-of-hospital care. Sessions explored how the health and care system can adapt to face future challenges, including:

• an ageing population and more people living with long-term conditions, chronic illness or disability
• the challenge of moving to a prevention-first health service
• realising the potential of innovation to transform patient pathways
• making health and care careers attractive to the workforce of the future.

This two-day flagship event attracted a wide-ranging audience from central and local government, the NHS, private and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, and people with lived experience.

Day 1: How do we meet the needs and expectations of those working and accessing services now?

Day one focused on the key challenges facing the health and care system 75 years on from the anniversaries of the NHS, the National Assistance Act 1948 and the arrival of the passengers of the Empire Windrush to the UK. 

Sessions provided the opportunity to discuss what the landscape for integrated care looks like post Hewitt review, and how integrated care systems (ICSs) are approaching tackling health inequalities. They also provided an opportunity to assess the challenges in improving access to out-of-hospital care, including social care and primary care, and meeting the challenge of an ageing population.

Day 2: Meeting future challenges 

Sessions in day two explored how the health and care system can enable people to live better-quality lives for longer. We also explored the key challenges in attracting the workforce of future and equipping them with the skills they need to be able to realise the potential of innovation. Drawing on domestic and international case studies and approaches, attendees also considered how we can tackle the biggest risk factors affecting people’s health and ensure the health and care system can meet the challenges of the next 75 years. 

At our 2022 annual conference, we discussed how to ensure an inclusive approach to recovery at a time of crisis, and tackling the backlog and access challenge, as well as the power of regional and local leadership.