Council plans for ‘place-based' schemes to improve residents' health and save public cash are being hindered by the NHS's reluctance to share budgets with town halls, officials have told The MJ.

Senior council figures believe the NHS's ‘silo mode' approach to tackling local health challenges – including rising demand for expensive adult social care, and public health issues such as alcohol abuse – could put frontline services at risk as ministers demand billions of pounds of public sector savings.

Some NHS bodies have snubbed Total Place-style attempts at joint working, despite the potential for collaborative approaches to improve patient services and save cash. Total Place schemes were successfully piloted last year, and involved a range of local public bodies merging budgets and sharing management expertise.

But while local government – which faces severe cuts to central government grants in October's Spending Review – has been keen to forge ahead with joint working, some local NHS bodies – which are under less pressure to save cash because their budgets are ring-fenced – have shown little interest.

Tony McArdle, chief executive of Lincolnshire CC, told The MJ he had struggled to get local primary care trusts (PCTs) to join forces with the authority.