The Integrated Care Boards of Devon and of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are to be merged as part of the Labour Government’s attempt to streamline NHS management.

The announcement was made at the end of last week after confirmation from NHS England and government ministers that the current 42 care boards across England will combine to create 26 clusters.

Through the ‘clustering’, both Integrated Care Boards will continue to exist, and will work as one with a shared board and leadership arrangements and staffing structure.

However, the ultimate aim is to combine them. The process of doing so will ultimately mean one chief executive, but in the meantime another chair and chief executive are being appointed to oversee the process.

The chairs of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly and NHS Devon John Govett and Kevin Orford and the chief executives of the two integrated care boards, Kate Shields (NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly) and Steve Moore (NHS Devon) will be making the two new appointments, expected to be confirmed by the end of July.

In a statement, the two ICBs said that it was too early to confirm any detail about staffing changes or expectations in reduction in roles.

On behalf of NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly and NHS Devon Integrated Care Boards, a spokesperson said: “Nationally all ICBs are being asked to significantly reduce running costs. Clustering between NHS Devon and NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICBs will help achieve the reductions required, while ensuring we can provide new strategic commissioning functions that support the health and wellbeing of our population.

“We plan to integrate and align functions across the two ICBs to bring efficiencies in line, rather than focus on frontline services.

“Work is now underway to develop the future structure in line with the national Model ICB Blueprint. This will involve engagement with our staff and partners over the coming months, and we expect to have more clarity on next steps later this year.

“Our commitment to high-quality, compassionate care for people in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and Devon is unchanged. Our absolute priority this year is to continue providing high-quality patient care and reduce waits, whether that’s for surgery, an ambulance, in the emergency department or to be discharged from hospital.”

The Model ICB Blueprint was launched in May and outlines the core roles and functions that ICBs will be responsible for with a significantly reduced running costs budget to release resources to support sustainable NHS finances.

National work is also underway to clarify how the new NHS operating model will function, and more information is expected to be shared over the summer.

The announcement added: “These changes are designed to strengthen our ability to work together, across organisations and boundaries, to provide better, more joined-up care for our population.”