The six West Midlands ICBs are to group into three ‘strategic clusters’ in an effort to reduce costs amid cuts to the health service.
Birmingham and Solihull ICB are to cluster with Black Country ICB, Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB with Coventry and Warwickshire ICB, and Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB.
This is the latest in a series of merging and clustering moves from across ICBs in England.
North Central London ICB and North West London ICB also last month announced they were ‘exploring merging’ as part of efforts to reduce costs.
Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB said it had been ‘working closely’ with the other West Midlands ICBs to form the plans, and that they have been agreed by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
However, the ICB emphasised that this was ‘not a proposal to formally merge the ICBs’.
It said that the ICBs would remain their own statutory organisations with their own legal responsibilities and local accountability.
‘The focus is on sharing senior management resources to deliver he required level of cost savings and to support greater strategic coherence across larger footprints,’ it said.
It added that work was now underway to develop the arrangements for the cluster and that they would be appointing a single chair and single chief executive for the cluster, and that there would be a proposed organisational structure developed.
It said: ‘These changes will be implemented in a phased and managed way to ensure continuity of leadership, preservation of place-based delivery across Herefordshire and Worcestershire, and no disruption to patient care or local relationships.
‘These changes are being handled with great care, and with a clear focus on maintaining stability, continuity, and delivery for patients and partners. We are confident that this collaborative approach with NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB puts us in a strong position to meet national expectations while preserving the strengths of our local system.’
Many of the ICBs that have announced merging or clustering plans so far have been the smallest ICBs, with eight of the smallest 10 ICBs having announced plans.
This includes Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly ICB, Bath and North East Somerset ICB, Dorset ICB, Somerset ICB, Gloucestershire ICB, Lincolnshire ICB, Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB and Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB, which all serve less than 1 million people.
Frimley ICB, which is another ICB serving less than 1 million people recently told Healthcare Leader that the ICBs across the South East were meeting to explore the ‘potential benefits of aligning plans’.
A spokesperson said: ‘Talks are also taking place with other neighbouring ICBs impacted by possible changes to existing boundaries.’
Healthcare Leader also understands that Bedfordshire, Luton & Milton Keynes (BLMK) ICB is to merge with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB and Hertfordshire.
ICBs were told in March they must cut their running costs by around 50% by October 2025 and to focus on reducing duplication when making cuts.
In May it was revealed that the ICB running cost envelope will be reduced to £18.76 per head, and that this target must be reached by the end of Q3 in 2025/26.
The chief executive of NHS England, Sir James Mackey, revealed earlier this year that the variation in spend per ICB per head previously ranged from £49 to just less than £21 per head.
