Councils and NHS required to link up over local social care and health needs

Councils will be required to work with primary care trusts to produce a strategic assessment of the health and social care needs of the local area, the government announced today.

The measures will be introduced in an amendment to the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill, which received its second reading in Parliament today.

The priorities identified in the assessment will then form part of the overarching community strategy for the area and could then be supported by funding from the local area agreement or other sources. The amendment is meant to deliver more integrated health and social care.