Senior health professionals must be persuaded to support the health and social care integration agenda, or attempts at transformation will fail, delegates at The MJ's Future Forum event were told yesterday.

In an opening session on health and local government meeting the joint fiscal challenge, Chris Hopson, chief executive for NHS Providers – a group representing acute hospitals, mental health, ambulance and community services – said the NHS had to move from ‘an overly-medicalised model which is clearly not appropriate for 21st century health needs'.

According to Mr Hopson, acute hospitals were nearly £1bn in debt and the deficit would increase from 80% of their number this year to 90% next year.