Get out in front of the new Integrated
Care Board landscape

The Model ICB Blueprint is NHS England’s strategic vision for transforming how Integrated Care Boards operate. It sets out a new model of intelligent, value-based commissioning focused on prevention, population health and system integration. For industry, it signals a move away from selling standalone products toward co-creating solutions that align with long-term NHS goals. 

ICBs are evolving from passive funders of care into strategic, accountable commissioners. They’ll be expected to understand population health needs, design integrated care pathways, purchase based on outcomes (not volume) and continually evaluate performance using data and feedback. This means companies must offer more than a product, they must support system change. 

The blueprint outlines three key shifts: 

• From Treatment to Prevention: Tackling illness before it starts. 

• From Hospital to Community: Delivering more care outside acute settings. 

• From Analogue to Digital: Leveraging data and digital tools to enable proactive care. 

Industry must now show how its offer aligns with these long-term shifts. 

It means reframing your value proposition around system-wide outcomes. For example, a drug isn’t just a treatment, it could be part of a broader intervention that includes education, digital monitoring or community delivery that reduces admissions and improves patient quality of life. Solutions need to be end-to-end and fit within the wider care pathway. 

ICBs increasingly expect real-world evidence, cost-benefit data and proof of value across the whole care pathway, not just clinical trial results. This includes outcome-based models, risk-share agreements and tools like patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) that can show the impact on workforce, cost and population health. 

The four core functions are: 

1. Understanding population health needs. 

2. Strategic planning of care pathways. 

3. Value-based resource allocation. 

4. Ongoing evaluation and oversight. 

To engage effectively, your offer must support one or more of these core functions, whether through analytics, co-design, delivery models or measurable outcomes. 

Companies have a role beyond sales. They can act as partners in redesigning services, sharing clinical insight, enabling digital transformation or supporting workforce development. For example, helping ICBs co-design a new pathway or offering a package that reduces unnecessary follow-ups can demonstrate strategic value. 

To stand out, align your offer with local priorities (e.g. reducing inequalities or improving population health), enable commissioning enablers like analytics or digital delivery, and propose partnership models that share risk and deliver measurable outcomes. It’s no longer about getting noticed - it’s about being useful. 

Both. I work with teams launching new products, entering the UK market, or trying to build on existing access. Sometimes a product’s been on the market for a while but needs a new approach to gain traction – especially in this ever-changing NHS landscape. Wherever you’re at, I’ll meet you there.  

Across the last two years alone, I have helped secure more than 100 new NHS projects for clients, worth tens of £millions. From unlocking rare disease pathways to turning stalled innovations into scalable pilots, I’ve helped companies at every stage of their market access journey. I’m happy to walk you through what success could look like for your team.