NHS Frimley ICB

NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) is the NHS organisation responsible for planning and delivering health and care services throughout the Frimley Health and Care system. Visit the NHS Frimley website to learn more.

Changes to ICBs

NHS Thames Valley ICB: update on changes to Integrated Care Board across the South East region

The NHS is going through significant changes to make care more joined-up, fairer for everyone and more sustainable for the future.

As part of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, the role of Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) is evolving, alongside wider reforms across the NHS and public services.

Key changes include:

A new focus for ICBs as strategic commissioners to improve population health, reduce inequalities and ensure access to high-quality care.
A shift in how ICBs operate, with some responsibilities moving to partners such as hospital trusts and local authorities, alongside a reduction in the level of direct funding for ICBs.

What this means:

Reduced budgets: ICBs have been asked to cut their running costs by around half, spending no more than £19 per person based on population numbers.
More regional collaboration: ICBs are being encouraged to work together across larger areas to deliver some of their functions more efficiently. In the South East, the six current ICBs have already started working in this way and are continuing to build on it.
Changes in local government: Plans for reform and devolution mean new strategic authorities will be created. District, borough and county councils are considering how best to come together into larger unitary authorities, with a push for health and local government boundaries to align more closely.

Thames Valley ICB – progress update
From 1 October 2025, NHS Frimley ICB and Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West (BOB) ICB have entered into a new ‘clustering’ arrangement under a joint Chair, Dr Priya Singh, and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Nick Broughton.

This marks an important step towards the creation of the new NHS Thames Valley Integrated Care Board, which will be formally established on 1 April 2026. The new ICB will serve around 2.5 million people across Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, commissioning health and care services and working to:

strengthen partnership working across health and social care,
tackle health inequalities,
make the best use of financial resources and workforce, and
ensure services are shaped around the needs of diverse communities.

The new configuration requires a three-way adjustment to the current NHS Frimley footprint:

East Berkshire has now joined BOB ICB as part of the journey towards the new Thames Valley ICB;
Surrey Heath, Ash and Farnham are aligning to Surrey and Sussex ICB*,
North East Hampshire is aligning to Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB*.

*Alignment of Surrey Heath, Ash, Farnham and North East Hampshire will be achieved by 1 April, 2026, until this time these footprints will remain part of the NHS Frimley ICB and BOB ICB cluster.

Over the coming months, work will continue with staff and partners to design the new organisation. A formal staff consultation will follow once the proposed structure has been developed and approved. Unfortunately, there will be staff redundancies and both ICBs are supporting colleagues during this difficult period.

At the same time, ICBs across the South East are continuing to collaborate to explore how services can be delivered at scale to reduce duplication, enhance quality, and make the best use of collective resources. This approach builds on a strong foundation of regional cooperation and shared learning, ensuring every pound spent delivers maximum benefit for patients.

On 1st July 2022 NHS Frimley Integrated Care Board (ICB) became the new statutory body responsible for ensuring health services are available to meet the reasonable needs of the people across the Frimley geography. This includes Ascot, Bracknell, Farnham, Maidenhead, North East Hampshire, Slough, Surrey Heath and Windsor.

NHS Frimley is required to have clinical commissioning policies that set out what services are available for our population as a whole and which are based on eligibility criteria.

As the successor body to the three former Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) within East Berkshire, North East Hampshire and Farnham and Surrey Heath, we have inherited each CCG’s commissioning policies.

Policy details

Details of these policies are listed below, more detailed information about each of the individual policies is also available.

Policy Statement for Bariatric surgery privately or abroad and follow-up care in primary care

There has been some ambiguity over the responsibility for the 2-year follow-up care and subsequent routine follow-up care following weight loss surgery privately or abroad and whether this responsibility lies with primary care. A policy statement has been developed to support conversations with residents considering weight loss surgery privately. The policy outlines what residents can expect their GP practice to provide and what should be considered prior to having surgery.

New Policies for NHS Frimley

Policy Number	Policy Name
BOBFPC 102	Posterior tibial nerve stimulation in paediatric patients
BOBFPC 104	Prostate specific antigen testing
BOBFPC 105	Surgical removal of kidney stones in adults
BOBFPC 106	Surveillance colonoscopy post-polypectomy and post-colorectal cancer resection
BOBFPC 107	Colonoscopy in the management of hereditary colorectal cancer
BOBFPC 108	Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in adults
BOBFPC 109	Treatment of voiding lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BHP)
BOBFPC 110	Treatment of ingrown toenails

Pre-existing policies now adopted across NHS Frimley

The following policies were in existence (across East Berkshire CCG) prior to the formation of NHS Frimley. Using the Thames Valley Priorities Committee policies (previously adopted by East Berkshire CCG) as a comparator it has been decided that they can be adopted across NHS Frimley as they meet the following criteria:

They have the same or very similar thresholds as preexisting policies (wording may differ but has no impact of referral thresholds/treatment access)
They have the same policy position as preexisting policies (based on evidence-based interventions (EBI) recommendations and/or criteria-based access (CBA))

Policy Number	Policy name
BOBFPC 001	Interventional procedures for varicose veins
BOBFPC 002	Treatments for gender dysphoria (non-core surgical procedures)
BOBFPC 004	Vasectomy – male sterilisation
BOBFPC 006	Arthroscopic lavage and debridement for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee
BOBFPC 010	Interventions for non-union fracture: Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (marketed in the UK as the Exogen® system) and teriparatide
BOBFPC 015	Ganglion cysts
BOBFPC 018	Dupuytren’s contracture release
BOBFPC 019	Carpal tunnel syndrome
BOBFPC 020	Surgical management of glue ear in children (under the age of 18 years)
BOBFPC 021	Chronic rhinosinusitis (adults and children)
BOBFPC 022	Tonsillectomy for surgical management of recurrent tonsillitis and obstructive sleep apnoea in children and adults
BOBFPC 023	Trigger finger
BOBFPC 029	Dilation and curettage (D&C) for abnormal uterine bleeding
BOBFPC 032	Ultrasound guided injections for hip pain (trochanteric bursitis and osteoarthritis of the hip)
BOBFPC 033	Surgical treatment of femoro acetabular hip impingement (FAI) (open or arthroscopic)
BOBFPC 039	Severe and complex obesity: Eligibility for bariatric surgery
BOBFPC 041	Implementation of NICE interventional procedures guidance (IPGs), medical technologies guidance (MTGs) and diagnostic technologies guidance (DTGs)
BOBFPC 047	Surgery for painful big toe (bunion)
BOBFPC 048	Elective surgical hernia repair in adults
BOBFPC 049	Patients with osteoarthritis (OA); primary hip and knee replacement
BOBFPC 050	Subacromial decompression for shoulder impingement
BOBFPC 053	Open magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and standing / upright MRI scans
BOBFPC 055	Primary hip and knee replacement revision surgery
BOBFPC 057	Autologous blood injections and platelet rich plasma injections
BOBFPC 058	Hysterectomy – indications for surgery
BOBFPC 059	Management of female pelvic organ prolapse
BOBFPC 060	Cataract removal in adults – thresholds for surgery
BOBFPC 061	Snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea / hypopnoea syndrome (OSAHS) in adults
BOBFPC 062	Functional electrical stimulation (FES) for upper and lower limb dysfunction of central neurological origin
BOBFPC 063	Penile circumcision and preputioplasty
BOBFPC 067	NHS England specialised commissioning services
BOBFPC 069	Reversal of female sterilisation and reversal of male sterilisation (vasectomy)
BOBFPC 070	Ectropion and entropion – indications for surgery
BOBFPC 071	Treatment pathway for adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
BOBFPC 072	Management of haemorrhoids
BOBFPC 074	Adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder)
BOBFPC 075	Management of asymptomatic gallstones
BOBFPC 076	Arthroscopic knee surgery for meniscal tears
BOBFPC 077	The diagnosis and treatment of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in children, adolescents and adults
BOBFPC 084	Corticosteroid injections for patella, elbow and achilles tendinopathy
BOBFPC 085	Corticosteroid injections for pre patellar (in the front of the kneecap) and olecranon (elbow) bursitis
BOBFPC 086	Hearing aids for hearing loss in adults
BOBFPC 088	Management of earwax
BOBFPC 091	Reconstructive breast surgery post breast cancer
BOBFPC 095	Treatment of chalazia
BOBFPC 098	Myalgic encephalomyelitis / chronic fatigue syndrome (ME / CFS)
BOBFPC 100	Complementary and alternative therapies
BOBFPC 101	Application for the use of ‘activities of daily living’ to individual funding requests