In June 2025, NHS England asked both North Central London and North West London Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) to develop options around closer collaboration and possible merger, as part of changes to the role, remit and significant funding reductions for ICBs announced earlier in the year.

Today, we have published Board papers (for our meeting on at 1pm on Wednesday 23 July 2025) which set out four options for the future model of our organisation The papers also include plans for the transition of services indicated for transfer in NHS England’s Model ICB blueprint.

Options appraisal, scoring and the recommendation to the Board

At the forefront of the development of the options for our future model was a commitment to ensuring the best interests of patients and residents in north west London. Given the necessary cost reductions for both organisations, we also considered the potential benefits of operating at greater scale with increased collaboration and reduced duplication – and how this would impact on our delivery, our staff and our communities. The four options are as follows:

Remain as two separate entities:

·       Option 1: Separate transformation of both ICBs

·       Option 2: Joint enabling functions

Merge NWL and NCL into a single legal entity:

·       Option 3a: Merger, targeted integration of functions

·       Option 3b: Merger, fully integrated

The Board will also discuss a recommendation from the Transition Committee (consisting of the ICB voting Board members, Executive and Non Executive) for full merger with North Central London ICB (option 3b).

This recommendation follows an evaluation of each option based on a range of criteria led by our executive team, focused on how we can build a resilient organisation within the funding available to us; that is the best strategic commissioner for the residents of north west London; that supports neighbourhood-based care; delivers the NHS 10-year plan; and is a place where staff can thrive. This evaluation was then considered by our Transition Committee, a sub-committee of North West London ICB Board.

North Central London’s ICB Board will also discuss these options and their own Transition Committee’s recommendation for full merger at their public meeting on Tuesday 22 July 2025. The Board decisions will be made independently of each other.

• Read the North West London ICB Board papers
• Join the North West London ICB Board meeting online
• Read the North Central London ICB Board papers
• To request a link to view a livestream of the meeting, please email nclicb.meetingsquestions@nhs.net by 10am on 22 July 2025.

We know that this remains a challenging period and we are very grateful for your ongoing support as we continue to work together to deliver the best possible health outcomes for residents in north west London. In all of this, they remain our top priority.