Integrated Neighbourhood Teams: What the Funding Shifts Mean for Your Practice

Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs) have been embedded in NHS policy since the Fuller Stocktake report in 2022, but 2025 and 2026 have brought significant developments that practices and PCNs cannot afford to overlook.

The government’s 10 Year Health Plan, published in July 2025, places neighbourhood health at the heart of its vision for the NHS with a clear direction of travel away from hospitals and towards community-based, preventative care. The Neighbourhood Health Framework, published in March 2026, has since set out the detail of how this will be delivered, including five national minimum goals covering access, outcomes, urgent care, and patient and staff satisfaction.

The Financial Picture is Shifting

For practices, the most immediate development is the repurposing of £292 million from the PCN-level Capacity and Access Payment into a new practice-level GP reimbursement scheme. This funding is moving away from the network and back to individual practices with implications for partners’ drawings, profit-sharing arrangements, and how PCNs manage their own finances going forward.

On the contracting side, new single and multi-neighbourhood provider contracts are on the horizon, though their rollout has slipped from 2026 to 2027–28. When they do arrive, they will bring with them new legal entities, pooled budgets, and Section 75 arrangements – all of which carry complex VAT, governance, and audit considerations.

Supporting you Through Change

We know the shift towards neighbourhood health represents a significant change in how practices and PCNs operate, and that the financial and contractual landscape will continue to evolve at pace. As always, we are here to ensure our clients are prepared well ahead of those changes – not reacting to them.

If you have any questions about what these developments mean for your practice, please get in touch with our team.