The Neighbourhood Health Framework sets out how ICBs, local authorities and partners should organise services around defined local populations. It explicitly includes local authority-commissioned adult social care within the neighbourhood model and is intended to support more joined-up, preventative care closer to home.

This is not a framework in which social care sits on the edge. Adult social care is part of the core model, and the framework says local outcome measures should reflect both health and social care needs. It also points local systems towards adult social care outcomes such as helping more people live at home, reducing admissions to residential and nursing care, and improving satisfaction for people who use services and carers.

Key areas of focus

The framework gives particular priority to:

• people with frailty
• care home residents
• housebound patients
• people receiving end of life care
• people with major long-term conditions including CVD, diabetes, COPD, dementia and mental health conditions
• children and young people

The emphasis on frailty, care homes and end of life care is especially important. The framework says these groups account for only 3 to 5% of the population but more than 25% of non-elective admissions and 50% of bed days. It also sets a goal of reducing non-elective admissions and bed days by 10% by March 2029 for people with mid to severe frailty, care home residents and housebound patients.

Delivery model

Integrated neighbourhood teams are central to delivery. These teams are expected to provide assessment, care planning, co-ordination and follow-on support, and the framework says some teams may benefit from including care workers. By 2027, the ambition is for 95% of people with complex needs to have an agreed care plan.
For 2026/27, systems are expected to put in place minimum basic requirements, including:

• plans to reduce non-elective admissions and bed days through neighbourhood-level urgent, rehabilitation and reablement services
• neighbourhood footprints and integrated neighbourhood team plans
• stronger joint working with local authorities and partners
• appropriate data-sharing arrangements to support patient identification and evaluation

Technology implications

The framework does not introduce a single new social care technology mandate, but it does make digital capability central to delivery. It says a strong digital approach will be critical to improving access, continuity and co-ordination of care.

The most important point for CASPA members is data sharing. The framework says the NHS will standardise expectations for data sharing between hospitals and neighbourhood health services, including social care, and requires systems to confirm that suitable data-sharing arrangements are in place.

It also signals wider use of digital tools in primary care, including AI, ambient voice technology, AI-assisted triage pilots, online consultation and greater use of the NHS App.

Commissioning implications

The framework is clear that what will change is how services are commissioned and contracted. It says the focus should be on outcomes rather than organisational form, with ICBs responsible for making neighbourhood health the default for NHS care provision and working closely with local authorities as commissioners of social care and public health services.
It also points to locally variable delivery models, with neighbourhoods expected to develop management arrangements that can join up resources, form partnerships and hold contracts.

Implication for CASPA members

For CASPA members, the framework is a clear policy signal that technology will increasingly need to support neighbourhood-level co-ordination rather than only single-provider workflows. In practice, that is likely to sharpen focus on interoperability (and the value of SCIP), shared care planning, discharge support, reablement, frailty pathways, care home support and end of life care.

It also suggests that opportunities for suppliers are likely to emerge through local pathway redesign and commissioning changes rather than through a single national technology programme.

Suggested takeaway for members

Members should read this as an important direction-of-travel document. It embeds adult social care more firmly within neighbourhood service design, gives clear prominence to frailty, care homes and discharge-related pathways, and increases the importance of data sharing and cross-organisational service co-ordination.