Integrated Neighbourhood Teams
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Neighbourhood health is becoming a central part of how the NHS plans to organise and deliver care over the next decade. The 10 Year Health Plan outlines a shift towards providing more services closer to home, improving prevention, and better coordinating care across organisations.
Community pharmacy is an important part of local health systems and will play a role within neighbourhood working as these models develop.
This page provides an overview of what neighbourhood health means, how it is being introduced, and how it may impact community pharmacy.
Across the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integarted Care Board, neighbourhoods have been developed as:
Leicester City: 4 neighbourhoods
Leicestershire County: 7 neighbourhoods
Rutland: 1 neighbourhood
What is a ‘Neighbourhood’ in the context of the 10 Year Health Plan?
A neighbourhood is a defined local area, typically covering a population of 30,000–50,000 people, where health, social care and community organisations work together to improve population health and deliver more care locally.
Neighbourhoods are designed to reflect natural communities and local geographies, ensuring services are organised around the populations they serve.
In some areas, neighbourhoods may align with existing Primary Care Networks (PCNs). In other places, neighbourhood boundaries may differ depending on local population needs and service configuration.
What is Neighbourhood Health?
Neighbourhood health refers to a model of care that moves services closer to people’s homes, focusing on prevention, accessibility and improved health outcomes.
The NHS describes neighbourhood health as a way of shifting care away from hospitals and into communities through stronger local partnerships.
Many organisations also emphasise the importance of wider collaboration, including:
- Voluntary and community sector organisations
- Local authorities
- Social care services
- Community providers
Community-based organisations often highlight the importance of working with communities themselves, recognising local assets and building services around what people need and value.
NHS England Neighbourhood Health Guidelines (2025/26) outline six core components that neighbourhood systems should develop:
- Integrated teams for people with complex needs
- Urgent community response services and virtual wards
- Improved access to general practice
- Continuity of care for those who need it most
- Strengthened core community services
- Better use of population health data and digital tools
These components aim to create more coordinated care across services, supporting patients earlier and reducing avoidable hospital use.
Why is the NHS prioritising Neighbourhood Health?
The NHS faces increasing demand due to:
- An ageing population
- More people living with multiple long-term conditions
- Rising pressure on hospital and urgent care services
The 10 Year Health Plan recognises that the current model of care is becoming unsustainable and highlights neighbourhood health as a way to:
- Reduce fragmentation between services
- Improve prevention and early support
- Deliver care closer to home
- Support people to live healthier, more independent lives
The aim is to provide care at the right time, in the right place, and in ways that fit around people’s lives.
How does the 10 Year Health Plan support neighbourhood development?
The 10 Year Health Plan sets out a national ambition to establish a Neighbourhood Health Service across England.
Key proposals include:
- Expanding out-of-hospital care
- Developing “one-stop-shop” neighbourhood health centres
- Growing neighbourhood-based workforce models
- Strengthening collaboration between health, social care and community organisations
To support this transformation, a National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme began rolling out across selected sites in 2025.
How will Neighbourhood Health be implemented?
The 10 Year Health Plan introduces two proposed new provider contract models.
- Single Neighbourhood Provider
This model would cover a population of approximately 50,000 people and deliver services across a single neighbourhood.
The role of this provider would be similar in some ways to existing Primary Care Networks, but with potentially broader responsibilities for delivering neighbourhood services.
- Multi-Neighbourhood Provider
This model would cover larger populations of around 250,000 people or more.
The intention is to create economies of scale and provide shared infrastructure such as:
- Back-office services
- Data analytics
- Quality improvement support
- Workforce coordination
These larger organisations could include:
- GP federations or primary care collaboratives
- NHS trusts
- Other provider organisations
Due to their size, multi-neighbourhood providers may also support greater integration across services.
Integrated Health Organisations
The Plan also proposes that some high-performing NHS Foundation Trusts may become Integrated Health Organisations (IHOs).
IHOs could potentially hold the entire health budget for a local population, coordinating services across multiple providers.
How IHOs will interact with neighbourhood provider contracts is not yet fully defined.
What this means for Community Pharmacy
Community pharmacy already plays a key role in neighbourhood health through:
- Improving access to healthcare locally
- Supporting medicines optimisation
- Delivering preventative services
- Providing advice and clinical consultations
As neighbourhood models develop, community pharmacy will continue to be an important part of local health systems.
CPL&R will continue to work with system partners to ensure community pharmacy is represented in neighbourhood discussions and planning across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
For further information and to access the latest resources please click HERE