Effective joint working between health and local authorities, and between health, social services and housing professionals, has long been recognized as vital to the provision of ‘seamless’ services for the most vulnerable members of society. Unfortunately, the history of formal joint...

In 2007, the UK government set performance targets and public service agreements to control the escalation of emergency bed-days. Some years earlier, nine English local authorities had each created local networks with their health and third sector partners to tackle this increase. These networks...

The article considers the role of public involvement in the British National Health Service in the context of the wider shift from government to governance. Based on a comparative case study, it identifies different outcomes from a single policy initiative in two localities. It argues, following...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to set the context for this special issue and provide an introduction to the individual contributions. Design/methodology/approach – This paper uses a literature survey and analysis. Findings – Integration remains both a central goal and a field of...