Posted on: 12 February 2025
Camden’s approach to integrated healthcare was on display during a visit from Richard Meddings, outgoing NHS England Chair, and Dr Claire Fuller, Primary Care Director at NHS England. Hosted in Kentish Town, the visit highlighted the borough’s Integrated Neighbourhood Team (East INT) - the first of its kind in North Central London.
The East INT brings together professionals from health, social care and the voluntary sector to work as one team, under one roof. Over 150 staff from CNWL’s district nursing and community rehabilitation teams, alongside colleagues from the Council, social care as well as GPs have been sharing an office at Kentish Town Health Centre since October 2024.
Leading the visit from CNWL was Sarah Hulme, Borough Community Services Director, accompanied by leaders from across Camden’s borough partnership, including the Council and colleagues from the North Central London Integrated Care Board.
Picture shows (from left to right): Sarah Hulme, Dr Claire Fuller (Primary Care Director NHSE), Richard Meddings (Chair of NHSE), Sally Lydamore (Head of Camden Integrated Community Health Services), Sofia Venuti (East Neighbourhood Team Lead) and Paul Najsarek (Chair of North Central London ICB)
The group discussed the new working environment, and what is working well for staff. Clinicians from the East INT were on hand to meet Richard and Claire, describing the value of the new neighbourhood approach, such as the face-to-face meetings which are making a big difference when it comes to complex cases.
One social worker recently said that despite the longer commute, they were so much happier in the new space. Sarah said:
“Working in a shared space makes it easy to tap a colleague on the shoulder and ask a question, share ideas and problem solve together.
"It’s also got a lot to do with coordinating care for residents. By joining up processes people aren’t needing to interact with different services separately or be seen as many times”.
During the visit, leaders discussed the challenges in scaling up the neighbourhood model, outlining the plans to set up four more neighbourhood teams across the whole borough. The group talked about shared care planning, IT systems, budget challenges, and officially bringing mental health services into the East INT.
Richard commented on the growing demand on healthcare systems overall, particularly from frail and elderly residents who rely on services the most. With more people needing care and limited resources, he challenged the team to think about the role of INTs in supporting discharge from hospitals, including virtual wards and hospital at home.
