Sustainability and transformation plans and partnerships

NHS sustainability and transformation partnerships are a mechanism for delivering the NHS Five Year Forward View (5YFV) and other national priorities for the NHS in England. The 5YFV, published in October 2014, was a collective vision for how the health service needed to change between 2015/16 and 2020/21.

Forty-four sustainability and transformation partnerships now exist covering the whole of England, although they vary considerably in the size of the area they cover and the populations they serve. Each of the forty-four footprints are separate partnerships made up of NHS organisations, including clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), NHS trusts and foundation trusts and primary care services, as well as local authorities.

This House of Commons Library briefing covers the context in which STPs have been developed, their funding and accountability arrangements as well as their progress so far. A key role of these partnerships was the creation of local blueprints for delivering the 5YFV, known as sustainability and transformation plans (STPs). This briefing therefore explores how these plans were developed, as well as research and debate surrounding the content and implementation of these plans.