Commissioning Board to spearhead NHS reforms
pharmafile | February 23, 2011 | News story | | GP consortia, Health and Social Care Bill, NHS, NHS Commissioning Board, NHS reforms, PCT clusters, PCTs, SHAs, Sir David Nicholson, pathfinder consortia
NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson says the new NHS Commissioning Board will be the driving force behind the health service’s reforms and would not be ‘shy’ about its role.
The Health and Social Care Bill, currently at the committee stage at the House of Commons, is set to make radical changes in the NHS by abolishing the 152 primary care trusts and 10 strategic health authorities and replacing them with around 300 regional GP consortia that will control around 80% of the NHS budget.
The changes health secretary Andrew Lansley is leading are moving quickly and 141 ‘pathfinder’ consortia, covering areas of around 28 million people in England, have already been established.
In an open letter to the chief executives of all Trusts, PCTs, SHAs, local authorities and pathfinder consortia, Nicholson said it would be up to GP consortia to generate £20 billion of efficiency savings in the course of commissioning care across the NHS.
“Consortia will need support and direction in order to carry out this critical role effectively and providing and shaping that support will be the central role of the NHS Commissioning Board,” Nicholson said.
“The Board will be confident about leading change at scale – not through top down diktat, but neither being shy about claiming a leadership role.”
Nicholson also confirmed that the Board’s headquarters would be based in the Department of Health’s Quarry House building in Leeds.
It will also have London offices at 4-8 Maple Street, a location currently used by the NHS’ National Patient Safety Agency, whose safety functions it will take on.
The appointment of the Board’s chair is now underway and Nicholson said he aims to have an executive team in place by October of this year.
PCT clusters
Nicholson said the rapid emergence of pathfinder consortia was an important reason for consolidating PCTs into cluster arrangements.
“The development of clusters will create space for pathfinders to take on delegated responsibilities earlier where they are ready.
“In addition, the creation of clusters will allow us to sustain our focus on delivery during the transition, rather than allowing an unplanned erosion of PCT capacity and capability whilst the new system develops.”
Nicholson said consistency in forming PCT clusters was important in order to keep a “tight grip” on finance, performance and quality during the transition.
“The end-point,” he said, “will be a single organisation covering the whole country and supporting a vibrant system of local consortia: the NHS Commissioning Board.”
Ben Adams
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