Lewisham and Greenwich are one of six NHS trailblazer sites in England, testing a new way to fund care closer to home. A six-month business case phase starts now.

Lewisham has been picked as one of six neighbourhood health “trailblazer” sites in England. The Department of Health and Social Care announced the six on 16 September, and Lewisham’s bid is a joint one with Greenwich, made by the Lewisham Health and Care Partnership and the Healthier Greenwich Partnership.

The two boroughs will develop what the government calls “an integrated neighbourhood model covering long-term conditions, frailty, cancer and end-of-life care, building on existing integrated neighbourhood teams while making cancer a more explicit focus”.

Nothing changes at your GP surgery this week. The selection starts a six-month development period, and the South East London Integrated Care System says plainly that the work in that period is “drafting and finalising robust business cases”, after which the partnerships will find out whether the investment can be secured.

What the programme is

The trailblazer programme tests a new way of paying for care that keeps people well at home, rather than treating them in hospital once they are ill. It is backed by £1.5m from the government’s Office for the Impact Economy, working with Macmillan Cancer Support and Social Finance.

The money behind it is unusual. Rather than a normal grant, the programme uses social investment alongside public funding:

  • Macmillan Cancer Support has committed to invest £250m in neighbourhood health across the UK over the next three to five years, and intends to be a “cornerstone investor” in the trailblazer sites
  • Social Finance, a not-for-profit that designs investment models for public services, provides the finance expertise
  • the approach builds on a proactive care service already running with West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Integrated care boards and councils across England were invited to apply. The six chosen were Lewisham and Greenwich; Bristol; North East Lincolnshire; a cancer rehabilitation project across 19 London boroughs run by RM Partners and the North Central London Cancer Alliance; north Nottinghamshire; and York and Scarborough.

The six neighbourhood health trailblazer sites announced on 16 September 2026, with Lewisham and Greenwich first: long-term conditions, frailty, cancer and end-of-life care

What it builds on locally

Lewisham already has integrated neighbourhood teams, which bring GPs, community health staff, social care and voluntary organisations together around groups of practices. The trailblazer work runs inside programmes already under way, with the two boroughs testing what works locally and sharing it nationally.

The core partners named for the Lewisham and Greenwich site are the South East London Integrated Care Board, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, primary care, both councils, Lewisham Local, Greenwich Action for Voluntary Service, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, the Community Hospice for Greenwich and Bexley, and the South East London Cancer Alliance.

Ceri Jacob, Lewisham Place Executive Lead, said the competition “was fierce as all NHS systems are focused on this priority and our inclusion reflects the groundwork and thinking we have done to create a solid foundation for change in Lewisham and our neighbouring borough and partner, Greenwich”.

Cllr Samantha Gardiner, Lewisham’s Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care, said: “At its heart, this is about making life better for Lewisham residents, helping them to get the right support earlier, closer to home and in ways that work for them and their families.”

What it means for you

  • No services change yet. The next six months are spent building the business case, not reorganising care.
  • If the investment is secured, the aim is more joined-up support for people with long-term conditions, frailty or cancer, and at the end of life, delivered in the community rather than in hospital.
  • The decision point comes at the end of the six-month development period, around March 2027. We will report the outcome.

The announcement is part of the government’s 10 Year Health Plan ambition to shift care from hospitals into communities and from treating sickness to preventing it. Dame Diana Johnson, Minister of State for Health, said the six pilots “will help lead the way in showing how locally led services can work together in the areas of greatest need”.

Sources: Department of Health and Social Care announcement, 16 September 2026; South East London ICS announcement, 16 September 2026.