Islington Council's Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Health convened on Friday, 21 November 2025, to discuss the NHS's 10 Year Health Plan and its implications for local healthcare. The plan focuses on shifting healthcare from hospitals to the community, transitioning to digital systems, and prioritising preventative care.

The NHS 10 Year Health Plan is based on 'three shifts':

  • A move from hospital to community care.
  • A shift from analogue to digital systems.
  • A move from treating sickness to preventing it.

The plan is to be delivered through Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INT). In Islington, the integrator partners are: Islington Council, Whittington Health, UCLH and Islington GP Federation. While Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INT) will undertake some of this work, other aspects will be managed by the existing local health and care networks.

The committee reviewed the plan's core tenets, including the implementation of 'Neighbourhood Health', which aims to provide better care closer to home. Key components of this approach involve Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INT) and addressing the wider determinants of health, such as identifying unmet social needs and creating community assets for wellbeing.

Illustration of a paramedic comforting a patient.
Illustration of a paramedic comforting a patient.

The plan also recognised that wider determinants of health are key to a Neighbourhood Health approach, including:

  • Identifying unmet social need.
  • Creating community assets for health and wellbeing.
  • Early identification and early help partnership working.

To address these wider determinants, the council will collaborate through borough partnerships, ensuring a strong council voice. Additionally, a Community Advisory Group, comprising over 25 residents and VCSE (Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise) representatives, will help shape outcomes for neighbourhoods. Updates will also be provided to the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Councillor Tricia Clarke and Councillor Joseph Croft (Chair of Health, Wellbeing & Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committe and Mental Health Champion) were among the attendees at the meeting.