The formation of the BC IMOC is at the peak of NHS innovation in its unprecedented stage.
It has taken on statutory form following the implementation of proposed legislation from July 2022 and comprises an Integrated Care Board (ICB) which has taken on CCGs' functions and broader strategic responsibility for setting healthcare strategies for the system. With a vast infrastructure of collaborative working in mind, the partnership project team led by the BC ICS Leads and the MLCSU, facilitated a phased project plan for IMOC formation.
Short-life task and finish (T&F) groups were set up for the purpose of consultation to support the structure and governance of an IMOC in its core foundation. Essentially there were three phases of the project with detailed task outputs from each phase.
Following the scoping exercise in phase 1, the T&F group were led into phase 2 of the project, tasking and producing the robust principles and processes required to underpin the governance structure of the BC IMOC. The resulting draft outputs of the IMOC Terms of Reference and Policy were tested through phase 3 of the project.
While the statutory date was delayed from April 2022 to July 2022, the BC IMOC conducted in shadow form to acquaint, communicate and embark on this new journey of integrated fashion across primary, community and secondary care, including our partners in social care. The Lead Black Country commissioner, now ICB lead Hemant Patel, directed the innovative formation of the IMOC with several focus groups and decision quality workshops to integrate leads in the primary care, secondary care and wider health and academic sectors, all partners in the system, to create clear opportunities to empower their voices in sharing their desire for partnership and strategic working.
It was recognised most committees aren't invested with their development. So this committee which has responsibility for over 1 billion pounds worth of spend each year was privy to a series of workshops commissioned from the Strategy Unit which focused on Decision Quality and Economics for non-economists.
These were all received very positively and since then have been commissioned by individual partner organisations. These conversations directed and supported the delivery of the shared aims for the BC IMOC and the formation of clear subgroups/committees as further outputs. This unparalleled direction has set the BC IMOC upon a foundation of strong, shared voices supporting collaborative aims of the NHS and a delivery of healthcare to the Black Country population.
