Responsibility for commissioning some specialised services was devolved to ICBs in the North West, East of England and the Midlands in April 2024 and to remaining regions in April 2025. Delegating these services will enable the planning, commissioning and provision of better and more integrated services for patients across whole and linked pathways of care; support key aims of the government’s forthcoming ten-year health plan; and strengthen the hand of ICBs to act as strategic commissioners and lead on population health, with providers of specialised services increasingly reaching out and into neighbourhood health and care systems.

This interactive session will explore:
• the benefits and opportunities of delegation and greater integration
• what has changed and is changing going forward
• some examples and case studies of how the regions already using devolved commissioning are using delegation to improve quality equity and value
• lessons learned from delegation of other services
• what these changes mean for patients
• how ICBs are setting up their governance arrangements.