Community Network
The national voice of NHS community providers.
Has the time finally come for community health services?
This long read from the Community Network focuses on the key role community services can have in unlocking the challenges facing the NHS, and it needs to start with the 10-year health plan.
Community
We support trusts and not-for-profit organisations providing NHS community health services to deliver high-quality care by influencing national policy, sharing good practice and promoting a vision of integrated care in the community.
Why join?
We:
- Influence national policy and system design – providing a strong, unified voice to shape policy, funding and reform – ensuring community services are central to the future of health and care
- Champion the value of community care – articulating and evidencing the impact of community providers in improving outcomes, reducing inequalities, and delivering care closer to home
- Support members to thrive – equipping them with the insight, tools and connections needed to deliver high-quality, sustainable services and lead within integrated systems
- Enable innovation, collaboration and neighbourhood health – supporting shared learning and partnership working to scale innovation and embed community providers at the heart of neighbourhood-based care.
This is in addition to:
- exclusive insights, resources and digital communities designed to help navigate complexity
- opportunities for direct engagement with government, parliament and national bodies.
Forums exclusively for Community Network members
Community Network: chairs, chief executives, board directors and senior executives of trusts/foundation trusts providing community services; leaders of voluntary and independent sector providers that are delivering NHS-funded community care, such as community interest companies; meets three times per year.
Forums available to all members of The NHS Alliance
- NHS Leaders Forum (successor to NHS Providers’ Chairs and Chief Executives Network): chairs and chief executives from across NHS trusts, ICBs, community CICs and primary care collaboratives. Meets twice yearly with all system leaders invited. Meets twice yearly in sector-specific groups – e.g. NHS trust chairs and chief executives only.
- NHS Non-Executive Directors Forum: Non-executive directors from across NHS trusts and ICBs.
- NHS Workforce Leaders Forum: directors of HR, workforce and organisational development.
- NHS Digital Innovation Leaders Forum: digital and innovation leaders at board level across trusts and ICBs; digital primary care senior leaders; board-level non-statutory members providing NHS funded patient care. Meets quarterly.
- NHS Communications Forum: directors of communications and engagement across trusts, ICBs and other parts of the system; other senior communications leads. Meets quarterly.
- NHS Quality and Safety Forum: series of webinars for board level leaders on key issues relating to quality and safety.
- NHS Work and Health Forum: broad ICB membership including ICB work and health leads, strategy and workforce leads and chairs. Non-ICB membership includes NHS trusts, local/strategic authorities, DWP, VCSE and national colleagues Currently monthly.
- Neighbourhood Leads Forum: primary care, acute, community, mental health and ICB neighbourhood health leads who are responsible for making neighbourhood working a reality at place and system.
- Outpatient Reform Forum: NHS trusts, community trusts, primary care and neighbourhood ICB; anyone involved with outpatient pathway redesign. Meets quarterly.
- EDI Directors Forum: directors, associate directors and high-level strategic leads for EDI or health inequalities within NHS organisations
- NHS BME Leadership Network: black and minority ethnic leaders, aspiring leaders and allies from across the NHS. We convene network members through our three annual in-person events: our anti-racism conference in April, network lunch at NHS ConfedExpo in June and our Black History Month event in October.
- NHS LGBTQ+ Leadership Network: LGBTQ+ leaders, aspiring leaders and allies from across the NHS. We convene members every quarter via virtual meetings and annually for our in-person networking session at NHS ConfedExpo.
- NHS Women Leaders Network: women working at all levels across health and care. We convene members several times a year via mix of in-person and virtual events including our quarterly fireside chats, annual conference and International Women’s Day celebrations.
- NHS Disability Leadership Network: new network.
Our priorities for 2026/27
- Promote community services as core to neighbourhood models, supported by enabling infrastructure, digital capability, workforce and payment systems needed for successful implementation.
- Celebrate the breadth and diversity of community services, while maintaining a distinct profile for the sector.
- Ensure community providers are fully represented in efforts to improve services and waiting times.
- Provide a voice for community providers to input into pathway reform, such as the proposed changes to SEND.
- Strengthen links with other sectors and explore how providers at all scales can work better together
Community health services
This infographic gives a short summary on what community health services are, and the role they play.
What are community health services?
Celebrating Community Services
Celebrating Community Services week takes place annually, shining a light on the role, breadth and importance of community health services.
The week exists primarily on social media using #CelebratingCommunityServices to bring services to life, celebrate the sector’s successes and the impact this has on people’s lives.
How to get involved
Every year, we ask community providers to get involved to share their successes – whether it’s a case study, a testimonial, a shout-out to your team or more using #CelebratingCommunityServices. The main thing is to raise the visibility of these services.
Feel free to use the hashtag all year round and tag us in and we'll help to amplify your success. You can also email jim.palmer@nhsconfed.org for further information.
