Working with the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise Sector

At our 2022 conference on working with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), which brought together over 310 people from across National Voices’ membership and beyond we asked participants for their advice for ICS leaders around building effective working relationships with the Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.

This document outlines and expands upon the key pieces of advice for Integrated Care System Leaders:

• Partner with us, we can help you
• Put people and communities first
• Value us, and our ways of working
• Communicate clearly, and openly

Our sector leaders look forward to working with you. We hope this document will help!

National Voices would like to thank the University of Birmingham, the Policy Innovation and Research Unit, and NHS England, for their generous support in organising and resourcing our conference on ICSs.

For more detailed guidance on VCSE partnerships and ICSs, please see: 

Integrated care system implementation guidance on partnerships with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector

During ICS establishment and implementation, NHS England has supported the development of system VCSE alliances or similar groups to work in partnership with ICSs. If you would like more information on these partnerships in your area, please contact: england.voluntarypartnerships@nhs.net