CEO's blog: our role in the new ICB

I hope as the season turns to the colder months that you’re finding access to vaccinations easy. You can find information on vaccination programmes, eligibility and where to go, on the NHS website. Please do let us know if you have any good or poor experiences of getting yourself protected against common viruses this winter.

This autumn has begun with a shift change in NHS service commissioning. It's probably common knowledge amongst our subscribers that in March 2025, the Government asked Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to cut running costs by 50%. As part of the plan to cut costs, our ICB is coming together to form a new, larger ICB which will be called ‘Central East ICB’. The new larger ICB is expected to come into being in 2026. The three ICBs – covering Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, our area - Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, and Hertfordshire – have begun working together with a new leadership team in place from 1 October 2025 to lead the organisations through the transition. 

Until now, I have represented the local Healthwatch in BLMK – and the residents we represent – on the Board of the ICB and that will now change. Central East ICB have committed to continuing representation on the Central East Board of the ICB by local Healthwatch but due to the scale of the area, I will continue to focus on representation closer to home and expect to sit on a new local committee that is being developed to continue the delivery of the BLMK Health and Care strategy at a 'neighbourhood' level. We’ll keep well connected to the regional Healthwatch representative to ensure a strong voice for the people of Milton Keynes.

In other news, I had the pleasure of hosting a meeting of Patient Participation Group chairs and members last week. We had a valuable discussion about the NHS 10 year plan, what the implications to independent resident voice might be as changes are enacted and how we might strengthen the role of PPGs in the future. I hope to make this a more regular network opportunity but in the meantime, I encourage you all to research and get involved with you local PPG. As well as resources to help you understand what a PPG is, we have developed a toolkit to support existing PPGs to strengthen their membership.