The North Staffordshire Health community asked the Whole Systems Partnership to undertake an initial diagnostic phase of work to review the robustness of their arrangements to manage continuing NHS care.  This included comment on risks associated with the legality of their eligibility criteria, financial arrangements and the contribution that information gathering and monitoring of uptake played in commissioning service responses. Following completion of the phase 1 diagnostic analysis  the four North Staffordshire and Stoke PCTs have commissioned further work which will focus on the critical elements that emerged from the diagnostic process.  These were namely: – reducing the risk of legal challenge by developing an approach to the management of end of life responsibilities in the context of continuing NHS healthcare – developing an approach to jointly funded service arrangements with in a legal framework in which the NHS responsibilities are clearly defined – redesigning the joint panel arrangements to reflect and evidence and needs lead approach to decision-making on continuing NHS healthcare through developing the necessary temp plates to such decision-making and in the context of an agreed risk framework. – Building on an already established data/information base to reflect trends and expenditure for continuing NHS healthcare both at an aggregate and individual PCT level.