NHS England remains “committed” to ensuring “good clinical leadership” across integrated care boards (ICBs), the chief nursing officer has said following concerns over senior nursing posts being scrapped. Speaking to Nursing Times today, Duncan Burton acknowledged that there were “significant changes” under way across ICBs and the wider NHS, but that clinical leadership was “fundamental” to how organisations are run. The union previously argued that savings ICBs had been asked to make were unsafe and showed a lack of understanding of the value of nursing leadership roles. “Clinical leadership is a fundamental part of our ICBs, and that remains the same,” said the CNO for England. An NHS England spokesperson told Nursing Times last week that the organisation would not be prescribing ICB board size and composition, as it was for ICBs to resolve locally.
