This briefing outlines the emerging policy direction for neighbourhood health services, and what it could mean for adult social care adult, data sharing and interoperability. It explores some of the practical questions providers, commissioners, local authorities and care associations may wish to consider.
Published 27 May 2026
What is neighbourhood health?
The government describes neighbourhood health as a model where services work together around local populations rather than organisational boundaries.
The aim is to support people earlier, reduce avoidable hospital admissions, improve coordination between services, and help people remain independent for longer.
The framework is built around three major shifts:
- hospital to community
- treatment to prevention
- analogue to digital.
Neighbourhood teams could include:
- general practice
- community health services
- adult social care
- mental health services
- public health
- housing
- voluntary and community organisations
- pharmacy
- wider local authority services.
Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are expected to develop local neighbourhood health models over the coming months and years, with further consultation expected on delivery models and contractual arrangements. The framework sets out “foundational steps” for 2026/27, leading towards full local neighbourhood health plans from 2027/28 onwards, as outlined in Next steps on neighbourhood health and new delivery models.
Implementation is expected to be incremental rather than immediate. Local systems are likely to evolve at different speeds depending on existing partnerships, digital maturity, workforce capacity and local priorities.
Social care’s role within neighbourhood health
National policy increasingly recognises adult social care as central to neighbourhood-based approaches.
Social care providers often have some of the richest insight into people’s day-to-day lives, changing needs, risks and preferences. They may spot early changes in mobility, frailty, hydration, nutrition, cognition, wellbeing or social isolation before a crisis develops, placing them in a strong position to support prevention, early intervention and more coordinated care.
Care providers already support many neighbourhood health priorities, including:
- reducing avoidable hospital admissions
- supporting hospital discharge
- preventing deterioration
- identifying changes in wellbeing early
- supporting frailty and long-term conditions
- helping people remain independent at home.
Home care providers are likely to play a key role in supporting people after discharge and preventing readmission. This reinforces the need for timely access to relevant clinical and discharge information so care workers can support people safely at home.
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), in Adult social care’s contribution to the Neighbourhood Health Service in England, stresses that social care should be treated as an equal partner in neighbourhood planning and delivery, not mainly as a way to reduce hospital pressure.
Questions remain about how adult social care, especially independent providers and smaller organisations, will be represented within neighbourhood structures.
Why digital and data sharing matter
One of the clearest messages emerging from government policy is that neighbourhood health depends heavily on digital infrastructure, interoperability and better information sharing across organisations.
The framework specifically refers to:
- proactive care
- population health management
- digitally enabled neighbourhood teams
- shared information flows
- data sharing arrangements between organisations.
In practical terms, this could mean:
- greater use of shared care records
- wider use of multidisciplinary team working
- increased use of digital referrals and communication tools
- improved visibility of discharge information and urgent care activity
- greater use of population health data to identify people at risk of deterioration or crisis.
For adult social care providers, better interoperability could support:
- safer transitions of care
- reduced duplication
- faster decision-making
- more coordinated support
- improved continuity of care
- earlier intervention.
As highlighted in the Care Management Matters article Digital Discussion: Unlocking individual system, interoperability is not simply about systems “talking to each other”. It is about ensuring information can move safely and appropriately between organisations in ways that support better decisions, continuity of care, earlier intervention and more coordinated support around the person.
The article also highlights that digitisation without interoperability risks creating “faster, more confident silos”, where organisations become more digital individually without becoming better connected collectively.
National developments including shared care records, the Minimum Operational Data Set (MODS), population health management approaches and the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 suggest interoperability is increasingly becoming part of the wider infrastructure expected to support neighbourhood-based care. The approach to data and the Single Patient Record set out in the NHS Modernisation Bill also reflects this shift.
This aligns with wider ambitions around neighbourhood health, virtual wards, hospital discharge, multidisciplinary care and prevention-focused services.
Beyond technology: culture, trust and collaboration
While digital infrastructure is a major focus, many national discussions increasingly recognise that technology alone will not deliver neighbourhood health.
Successful neighbourhood working is also likely to depend on:
- trust between organisations
- clear governance
- psychological safety within teams
- shared decision-making
- workforce confidence
- practical collaboration across organisational boundaries.
The King’s Fund analysis Neighbourhood Health Framework : Clarity, gaps and what comes next notes that while the framework provides greater clarity, questions remain about whether systems have the capacity to balance acute pressures, long-term population health goals, local flexibility, and the demands of implementation.
Challenges and unanswered questions
Although the policy direction is becoming clearer, many operational details remain unresolved.
Questions still being discussed nationally and locally include:
- how independent care providers will be included in neighbourhood models
- who will fund interoperability and digital infrastructure
- how smaller providers will be supported
- how neighbourhood contracts and funding arrangements will work
- how delegated healthcare activities may develop
- how information governance arrangements will operate in practice
- how digital and workforce inequalities between organisations will be addressed.
There remain significant barriers in many parts of the country, including fragmented systems, inconsistent digital maturity, workforce pressures and poor information flows between organisations.
There are also concerns that social care could become viewed primarily through the lens of supporting NHS pressures rather than as an equal partner in prevention, wellbeing and personalised support.
There is growing recognition that digitisation alone will not automatically improve coordination. Without interoperability, digital systems can risk creating disconnected digital silos rather than genuinely joined-up care.
Considerations for care providers
Adult social care providers may wish to consider:
- whether they are represented in local neighbourhood health discussions
- how digitally mature their organisation currently is
- whether their systems support interoperability and information sharing
- how prepared they are for increased digital collaboration
- whether staff feel confident using digital systems and data securely
- how they contribute to local discharge, prevention and multidisciplinary working
- whether business continuity and cyber security arrangements are up to date
- how people who draw on care and carers are involved in discussions about digital care and information sharing.
Strengthening digital foundations through measures such as the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT), cyber resilience, using assured Digital Social Care Records and workforce confidence may help providers prepare for future neighbourhood working.
Considerations for local care associations
Local care associations and representative organisations may wish to consider:
- ensuring social care representation within neighbourhood planning structures
- advocating for adult social care as an equal partner in neighbourhood health
- helping systems better understand the role, value and expertise of independent care providers
- helping providers engage with digital transformation programmes
- contributing to local interoperability and shared record discussions
- identifying barriers around contracts, funding, workforce capacity and delegated roles
- sharing provider insight, practical examples and evidence of impact with local systems
- supporting collaboration between providers, NHS organisations and local authorities
- helping providers engage in MDTs, neighbourhood teams and other local partnership arrangements
- ensuring providers’ voices are heard in local decision-making, particularly where individual organisations cannot engage directly.
Conclusion
Neighbourhood health is still evolving, with no single national blueprint. But the direction is clear: more preventative, community-based, digitally connected care through stronger cross-sector collaboration.
For adult social care, this is a chance to shape neighbourhood models so they reflect the realities of supporting people at home, in communities and in care settings.
Interoperability and neighbourhood health are likely to shape adult social care over the next decade. The question is no longer whether systems will become more connected, but how, on whose terms and with what safeguards.
The coming years will determine how fully adult social care is included in neighbourhood approaches, how well information is shared, and whether digital transformation delivers more joined-up, person-centred care.
Useful links
- 43 Wave 1 Neighbourhood Health services (Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England)
- Neighbourhood Health Framework (Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England)
- Next steps on neighbourhood health and new delivery models (NHS England)
- National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme
- What is neighbourhood health? (King’s Fund)
- Neighbourhood Health Framework response (King’s Fund)
- Adult social care’s contribution to the Neighbourhood Health Service in England (ADASS)
- Shaping neighbourhood care: the role of adult social services in transforming health and wellbeing (ADASS)
- Supporting NHS strategic commissioning and neighbourhood health (LGA)
- Digital Discussion: Unlocking individual systems: Neighbourhood care needs social care data (Digital Care Hub in Care Management Matters)
- Towards a Model Neighbourhood: Next steps on implementing neighbourhood health (PPL)
- NHS Modernisation Bill (DHSC and NHS England)
#DigitalCareinFocus #NeighbourhoodHealth
