This ebook builds on an initial scoping review commissioned by the NIHR School for Social Care Research which sought to collate the existing evidence on relationships between general practice/primary care and adult social care. Entitled 'New conversations between old players', the review concluded that we know very little about this fundamental relationship (and that the relatively small amount of evidence which exists tends to derive from previous reforms in the late 1990s and early 2000s). The quality of this evidence was also very mixed, and the review concluded that existing relationships may well be starting from a low base.

In response to this review, the University of Birmingham's Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) held a one-day national workshop in February 2015 in order to bring together policy makers, senior leaders, practitioners and researchers. This was jointly badged with The College of Social Work and the Royal College of General Practitioners, who had recently been working together to draw attention to the importance of joint working, to showcase examples of good practice and to use their status and networks as national professional bodies to model and promote good practice (College of Social Work/Royal College of General Practitioners, 2014). Following on from the workshop, this ebook is jointly badged by the Journal of Integrated Care and by The College of Social Work, with the College's Chief Executive, Annie Hudson, also contributing as an author.