FOI 2026/1613

I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

1. How many current care packages are commissioned for children and young people with complex needs (including but not limited to learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism, and/or complex health needs)?

2. How many current care packages are commissioned for Adults with complex needs (including but not limited to learning disabilities, physical disabilities, autism, and/or complex health needs)?

3. How many complex children’s care packages have been commissioned within the last 12 months?

4. Of the current care packages in place:

1. How many are fully staffed and meeting the commissioned hours?
2. How many are partially staffed (i.e. not consistently meeting commissioned hours)?
3. How many are currently failing, at risk of breakdown, or unable to be fully delivered due to workforce shortages?

5. What is the average weekly commissioned hours per complex care package?

6. How many care packages in the last 12 months have required emergency provider changes or re-tendering due to provider failure?

7.Does the ICB/NHS Trust currently operate a preferred provider framework for complex children’s care, and if so, how many providers are on this framework?

If possible, I would appreciate the data broken down by borough/locality.

Please provide the information in electronic format. If any part of this request exceeds the cost limit, I would be grateful if you could advise how the request may be refined.

Request for Clarity 4 March 2026:

I write in response to your recent Freedom of Information request, which was received by NHS Greater Manchester 17 February 2026.

I would like to explain that NHS Greater Manchester consists of the following 10 Greater Manchester Localities: Bolton, Bury, Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, Manchester, Oldham, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, and Wigan (former Clinical Commissioning Groups), who currently all have their own processes/systems for recording their Continuing Healthcare (CHC)/Complex Care activity. To be able to process your request and provide you with a consistent response across all localities I would be grateful if you could you provide the following clarity:

• NHS GM defines individuals in receipt of CHC funding and any other individualised packages of care as being considered as complex care. Can you please confirm that you in agreement with our own interpretation in respect of this and provide a detailed explanation of what you define as complex health needs for colleagues to be able to respond correctly to your request.

I am sorry we are unable to help you further currently, and I look forward to receiving the necessary clarity to be able to action your request.

In line with the Freedom of Information Code of Practice, Section 45 paragraph’s 2.8 and 2.9, the 20-working day deadline is now paused and will not start again until the detailed explanation has been received. Please note that if we do not receive a satisfactory response from you, we will assume you are no longer wanting to proceed, and the request will be considered closed

Many thanks in advance.

Response to the Request for Clarity 17 March 2026:

Thank you for your email and for the further clarification provided.

I can confirm that I am in agreement with NHS Greater Manchester’s interpretation that individuals in receipt of CHC funding and other individualised packages of care can be considered as receiving complex care.

For the purpose of my request, I define “complex health needs” as individuals (both adults and children) who require a high level of ongoing care and support due to significant physical, neurological, or cognitive conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, individuals requiring:

• NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) funding
• Children’s Continuing Care packages
• Joint-funded packages with Local Authorities
• Enhanced levels of care (e.g. 1:1 or 2:1 support)
• Specialist clinical interventions such as tracheostomy care, ventilation, PEG feeding, epilepsy management, or other long-term clinical needs
• Multidisciplinary input and long-term community-based care arrangements

I hope this provides the level of detail required to enable colleagues across all localities to respond consistently. However, please do let me know if any further clarification is needed.

Thank you for your assistance, and I look forward to your response.

NHS Greater Manchester (GM) Integrated Care Board (ICB) currently has 10 Continuing Healthcare (CHC) / Individualised Packages of Care (IPOC) Teams who operate within each of the respective 10 GM localities. Eight out of ten of the CHC / IPOC Teams deliver the full IPOC pathway. However, two of the ten teams have a distribution of responsibilities between the other statutory partners within the local health and care system. Their respective details have been provided below for Salford and Manchester:

For the Salford Locality responses provided to each of your questions, our responses only relate to Adult CHC. We suggest you contact the Salford Integrated Commissioning Team, hosted by Salford City Council, for other elements of the IPOC pathway. Also, the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA), deliver the Children and Young People (CYP) Continuing Care (CC) via their Community Services Teams within Salford. To assist you please find links to their websites and information about how to make a Freedom of Information request.

Salford Council Freedom of Information Act•Salford City Council

Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information Requests :: Northern Care Alliance

For the Manchester locality Children’s Continuing Care Services are provided by Manchester Local Care Organisation. Manchester Local Care Organisation is a public sector organisation that provides NHS community health services and adult social care services in Manchester. Therefore, NHS GM do not hold the information requested and it will be necessary for you to contact them. To assist you, please find below a link to the Manchester University NHS Trust website and information about how to make a Freedom of Information request.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information – Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (mft.nhs.uk)

Within your clarification e-mail to NHS GM, you advised of the following two points relating to the following specialist services, which are routinely delivered by NHS providers:

• Specialist clinical interventions such as tracheostomy care, ventilation, PEG feeding, epilepsy management, or other long-term clinical needs
• Multidisciplinary input and long-term community-based care arrangements

NHS GM have therefore provided the details below for each of the NHS Trusts, within the GM Integrated Care System (ICS), and their respective FOI Team details:

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of information – Bolton NHS FT (boltonft.nhs.uk)

Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information Requests :: Northern Care Alliance

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information – Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (mft.nhs.uk)

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information – Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information Requests :: Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care (tamesideandglossopicft.nhs.uk)

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – WWL Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | FOI Disclosure Log

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of information disclosure logs (christie.nhs.uk)

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PLEASE NOTE – Where <5 has been recorded, NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM) does hold the information requested however, due to the low numbers involved (where patient data is 5 or less <5) we consider this to be exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as the disclosure of this information may lead to the identification of individuals. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test.