For local authorities, combined authorities and mayors the most eye-catching and radical element of the new NHS Long Term Plan is the creation – for the first time since the NHS was set up in 1948 – of fully integrated community-based health care.

This commitment is backed up with hard cash – with £4.5 billion over five years being allocated to fund expanded community multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) aligned with new primary care networks based on neighbouring GP practices.