NHS Cheshire and Merseyside

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside – the integrated care board (ICB) for the region – is responsible for planning NHS services for our population, which includes the care you receive at your GP practice, local pharmacy, NHS dentist, NHS opticians, or at hospital.

We serve a population of over 2.7m people across Cheshire East, Cheshire West, Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens, Warrington and Wirral.

Working alongside the wider integrated care partnership, ICBs have four key aims:

  • Improve outcomes in population health and healthcare
  • Tackle inequalities in outcomes, experience and access
  • Enhance productivity and value for money
  • Help the NHS support broader social and economic development

To support our vision, local health and care services are working together, as equal partners, to support seamless, person-centred care and tackle health inequalities by improving the lives of the poorest fastest.

Why change?

For years health services, such as GP practices and hospitals, and care services were run by separate organisations with different objectives. Now, building on years of ever-closer collaboration – not least in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic – the health service and local authorities are coming together as part of a new Integrated Care System.

Joining up health and care is nothing new – we have been working towards this for years and will continue build on this excellent work by supporting innovation and learning from examples of best practice across Cheshire and Merseyside and beyond.

Health and care organisations across Cheshire and Merseyside will be better supported by each other by working collaboratively to improve efficiency and reduce duplication - thereby supporting higher quality, more sustainable services.

Decisions will be taken closer to the communities they affect, supporting better outcomes, and there will be better use of community assets and greater focus on prevention and wellbeing.

WATCH: Integrated care in Cheshire and Merseyside