EHdK brings proven integrated care practice from the Netherlands to the UK
Making integrated care actually happen
Health and care systems are under pressure. That is true in the Netherlands, in England, and elsewhere.
Demand is rising, the workforce is constrained, and care is still too often fragmented across organisations. Many systems have clear ambitions for integrated, neighbourhood-based care. Turning those ambitions into something that works in practice is where things become difficult.
EHdK works at the point where different parts of the system meet: primary care, specialist care (including mental health), community services and social care.
We support systems to move from plans and pilots towards a way of working that holds up in day-to-day practice.
What we do
EHdK is a consultancy rooted in the Dutch healthcare system and now increasingly active in England.
We work across the boundaries between:
- primary care
- specialist care (including mental health)
- community services
- social care and local government
Our focus is straightforward: making integrated care work for people with more complex or long-term needs.
In the Netherlands, this has meant working with regions to bring services together around neighbourhood populations. In practice, that often looks like:
- teams that combine primary care, specialist care and social support
- a shared way of working around people with complex needs
- professionals working across organisational boundaries, rather than alongside each other
In simple terms: one team, one plan, one way of working.
Our work in practice
We support leaders and organisations to translate ambition into something that can actually be delivered.
This typically involves:
- bringing providers together around neighbourhood populations
- turning policy into day-to-day practice
- building the organisational foundations needed for integrated care
- aligning partners across organisational and funding boundaries
- developing new ways of working for people with more complex needs
Depending on the context, this can include work on governance, leadership, data, workforce, and delivery infrastructure.
we do.
We actively participate.
We are knowledgeable about the market.
We are transparent about what we do.
A common challenge
In many places, the direction of travel is clear. Delivery is where things stall.
Systems often have strong ambition, existing partnerships, and committed leadership. What is missing is the underlying way of working that allows those elements to come together.
That includes:
- a clear operating model
- provider capability at scale
- time and capacity to organise delivery
- a neutral partner who can convene and challenge where needed
This gap between ambition and delivery is where we tend to be most useful.
How we work
We do not position ourselves as external advisors at a distance.
We work alongside system leaders, organisations and teams, from early thinking through to implementation. That usually combines structured facilitation with more hands-on support.
In practice, this means helping systems to:
- define a clear direction
- work through difficult choices
- organise delivery across organisations
- maintain pace over time
We work alongside systems to support delivery and help maintain pace and focus.
Why EHdK
EHdK is not a typical consultancy.
We bring experience from the Dutch system, where integrated and neighbourhood-based care is already being implemented in practice.
That experience is not theoretical; it comes from working directly with providers, commissioners and local partners.
We tend to work closely with the people who are responsible for making change happen. That means being present in the system, not just advising from the outside.
We combine strategy, facilitation and delivery support, depending on what is needed. We are independent, which allows us to work across organisational boundaries and take a neutral position where that helps.
We are also comfortable engaging with the complexity that comes with system change, including the tensions that often sit underneath it.
At its simplest, our role is to help systems turn intention into something that works in practice.
Working with systems in the UK
We are building our practice in England and working with system and Place leaders who are trying to move from ambition to delivery.
Work often starts with a focused piece of support. That might involve helping a Place clarify its approach to neighbourhood working, supporting leadership teams to align around a direction, or developing a practical roadmap.
From there, we can stay involved to support implementation where that is useful.
Get in touch
We are currently working with a small number of systems in the UK.
If you are looking to move integrated or neighbourhood-based care from ambition to delivery, we would be glad to have a conversation.