RCoA responds to King’s Fund report on Integrated Care Systems

Professor Ravi Mahajan, President of the Royal College of Anaesthetists said:

“The King’s Fund report highlights the encouraging start that Integrated Care Systems have made. In order to realise their full potential, policies, regulations and payment systems must be aligned to make the heath system work together.

“As the single largest group of hospital doctors, anaesthetists are driving the evolution of integrated, perioperative care, one of the most exciting concepts in hospital medicine, that utilises multi-disciplinary teams across primary, secondary and tertiary care. 

“The period around an operation is a ‘teachable moment’ where interventions such as smoking cessation, weight management or psychological support can lead to sustained lifestyle change for patients. Perioperative care is about bringing it all together to deliver care that improves long-term outcomes and relieves the NHS of avoidable stays in hospital.

“There are already perioperative initiatives that are improving patient outcomes and making better use of NHS resources. But for such initiatives to be effective they need to be integrated across the whole of the NHS. Only then will they properly start to relieve some of the pressures we see on a daily basis.”