We are responsible for commissioning health and care services for the people of Islington and making sure these services meet the needs of local people.
It’s our job to make sure that residents receive high-quality healthcare services whenever they need them – whether this is advice from a pharmacist or GP, a procedure in hospital, help at home through local community services, or support with mental health.
Islington, together with four other London boroughs – Barnet, Camden, Enfield and Haringey – makes up the NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB).
Islington has a population of around 243,000 people, from diverse communities.
We have some unique health challenges, with the highest level of child poverty in London (28%) and the 4th highest in London of poverty among older people.
Even before the pandemic, Islington ranked the 5th highest in London for loneliness and 1 in 6 adults were living with a diagnosed mental health condition.
We are working to improve the health and wellbeing of people living in Islington, with a particular focus on driving up the quality of primary care to meet the health needs of the population, improving child health services, and care for vulnerable and disabled adults.
Our objectives are to:
- Ensure every child has the best start in life
- Prevent and manage long-term conditions to extend length and quality of life and reduce health inequalities
- Improve mental health and wellbeing
- Deliver high quality, efficient services with the resources available
While there has been some progress, there is still a long way to go to address health inequalities and improve local health outcomes, and that’s why we are working with partners as part of a borough partnership to maximise the impact we can have on addressing health inequalities.
The Islington Borough Partnership has been established to bring together a range of organisations in Islington to confront the challenges local people are facing.
We believe that if we put our collective energy and resources behind shared goals, principles and ways of working, we will be able to create better solutions.
We need local people to be part of the development and delivery process too.
We want to build a place-based approach, which maximises the opportunities presented by collaboration between health partners and the local authority, including and beyond adult social care, to ensure Islington residents are as well and independent as possible and leading fulfilling lives.
We know that people are experts in their own lives, and providing joined up high-quality advice, support and services, that keep people independent and able to care for themselves and their families, is at the heart of what we do.
We are committed to placing local communities at the heart of everything that we do.
It is important that we continue to hear the views of our local communities and make sure we include them in every part of the commissioning process.
We work with our local communities and patients to support them to be able to better manage their own health needs and achieve optimal wellbeing, no matter who they are and what their circumstances might be.
We hold regular events and community groups where people can get involved in our work and have their say.
North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB) has set up the North Central London Residents’ Health Panel, which includes Islington residents who regularly share their views on local services and what needs to change.
You can be involved and have your say.
You can also respond to current consultations or engagement exercises about major changes to local healthcare services.
For more information, contact us, by email nclicb.communications@nhs.net
We regularly share updates with our patients and stakeholders. If you would like to be added to our mailing list to receive this update by email, please email nclicb.communications@nhs.net
You can also follow us on Twitter @IslingtonNCLICB