'Important step' towards new NHS care board

The new Thames Valley Integrated Care Board is set to be created in April 2026

The creation of a new NHS integrated care board covering about 2.5m people has moved closer, with two existing bodies set to partially merge.

Integrated care boards decide how to spend the NHS budget in the areas they cover.

Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire & West Berkshire Integrated Care Board (BOB ICB) has absorbed East Berkshire in a move towards the creation of a Thames Valley ICB, which is expected to happen on 1 April 2026.

A new "clustering" agreement between BOB ICB and Frimley ICB - which had previously been responsible for East Berkshire - began on Wednesday.

The restructuring comes after the government told integrated care boards across the country to reduce their running costs by 50%.

BOB ICB said the new arrangement with Frimley marked an "important step towards the creation of the new NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board".

The care board said this new body would "strengthen partnership working across health and social care and tackle health inequalities".

Integrated care boards plan and fund local health services for their area, allocating budgets to GPs and hospitals and work with partners to improve outcomes.

Under government plans, boards across England will be required to spend no more than £19 per person.

BOB ICB said the merger would "make the best use of financial resources and workforce, and ensure services are shaped around the needs of diverse communities".

"Over the coming months, work will continue with staff and partners to design the new organisation," it said.

It added that "unfortunately, there will be staff redundancies", and that it was "supporting colleagues during this difficult period".