Integrated Neighbourhood Teams Community Engagement Report

Healthwatch Lambeth undertook a comprehensive programme of community engagement to explore how Lambeth people and communities think the three shifts set out in Fit for the Future: The 10 Year Health Plan for England—Hospital to Community, Analogue to Digital, and Treatment to Prevention—could be delivered through Lambeth Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INTs).

 A total of 356 individuals contributed through workshops, a borough-wide survey, focus groups, and interviews, capturing the experiences of people with diverse and often complex overlapping health and care needs.

Residents strongly support the ambition underpinning INTs to deliver more coordinated, community-based care. They recognised the potential benefits of bringing care closer to home, improving the use of digital tools , and focusing more on prevention. However, they were clear that these shifts will only work if services become more joined-up, accessible, inclusive, and trusted. 

A consistent message across all groups was that people want care to feel less fragmented. Many described the burden of navigating a system that feels disjointed and reactive, and having to coordinate their own care across GPs, hospitals, social care, mental health services, education, and community support. This was particularly challenging for parents of children and young people with complex needs, people with multiple longterm conditions, people experiencing frailty, carers, and people needing mental health support. 

Residents wanted clearer pathways, named contacts, proactive coordination, better communication between services, and less need to repeat their story. People strongly supported bringing more care closer to home, but they did not want this to mean simply relocating services away from hospitals. They wanted community-based care that is timely, accessible, and holistic, delivered in trusted local places, and supported by clear follow-up. 

For some groups, especially people experiencing frailty or long-term conditions, reducing travel and providing care in familiar community settings was seen as essential to staying well and independent. There was a clear consensus that digital tools should improve access without replacing in-person routes. Residents wanted genuine choice in how they access care, including face-to-face, telephone, and supported digital options. People needing mental health support were particularly concerned about privacy and confidentiality when using online systems, reinforcing the need for clear assurance about how information is used and protected.

Residents supported a stronger focus on prevention but emphasised that this must go beyond information or early intervention alone. Prevention needs to include practical, holistic support that helps people stay well in their daily lives, including health checks, regular reviews, low-cost or free physical activities, mental wellbeing support, social connection, falls prevention, nutrition advice, and support with wider determinants of health. 

For people experiencing frailty, prevention may mean support that helps them remain active, connected, and independent for longer. Trust emerged as a key issue shaping how people engage with services. While many people trusted individual services such as GPs or community organisations, confidence in the system was more variable and uneven across population groups. People wanted services that listen, take concerns seriously, recognise carers and family members as partners, and provide culturally safe and accessible support. Trusted voluntary and community organisations—including community centres, libraries, and local activity providers—are essential partners in reaching communities and building confidence in neighbourhood-based support. 

Across all population groups, distinct barriers, priorities, and levels of unmet need were identified, reinforcing the importance of designing INTs in ways that are flexible, inclusive, and responsive to diverse needs. 

Overall, the findings suggest that Integrated Neighbourhood Teams have the potential to improve care in Lambeth if they are designed around lived experience. People want a model that brings services together, reduces the burden on individuals and families, provides practical and preventative support, offers genuine choice in how people access care, works closely with trusted VCSE partners, and demonstrates how people’s voices have shaped change