Horizontal and vertical integration in the UK: Lessons from history

Policy makers, practitioners and researchers have increasingly emphasised the need for both vertical and horizontal 'integration' and 'integrated care'. This is not new; since the inception of the NHS wide-ranging policies and programmes have sought to co-ordinate services better. Current UK policy, however, tends to overlook this historical record and, in so doing, ignores potential learning from the past. We seek to help rectify this approach by reviewing historical (published and grey) literature over the past one hundred years, considering both the drivers for and the impediments to varied UK policy developments in integrating health and allied services. We aim to shed light on how the policy of integrated care has developed in the UK and draw out lessons for modern-day policy makers. © Pier Professional Ltd.