To help ensure that health and care services are built around the needs of local populations, every health and care system in England are producing a multi-year STP.  These will show how local services will evolve over the next five years, ultimately delivering the NHS' Five Year Forward View vision of better health, better patient care and improved NHS efficiency.

STPs are designed to enable local health and care leaders to work together more collaboratively to help each other meet their responsibilities more effectively and efficiently. STP 'footprints' are collective discussion forums which aim to bring together health and care leaders to support the delivery of improved health and care based on the needs of local populations. They do not replace existing local bodies, or change local accountabilities.

Far from being secret, these STPs were publicly announced by NHS England in their December 2015 Planning Guidance.  First draft plans have now been submitted to NHS England who are scrutinising them and providing feedback.  From the end of October, there will be a more formal process of local consultation to begin across each area and only plans which are ambitious, realistic and set out a clear case for how patients will benefit will be approved. 

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) remain accountable for securing high-quality healthcare services for their local populations. In some areas, CCGs have established or are planning to establish collaborative commissioning arrangements across a number of CCGs and/or with local authorities, where they consider that this will help them improve quality and outcomes for their local population.

I was unfortunately unable to attend the Opposition Day Debate on 14 September due to other commitments, however, I will continue to monitor developments in this area closely.