Posts Tagged commissioning
Moving the chairs… again
Posted by James Gubb in Health on 19/01/2011
Over the past few weeks Civitas staff have written many articles questioning the Government’s plans for the NHS, not on invigorating competition – which is needed, particularly with the productivity challenges the NHS faces – but on commissioning: on abolishing all PCTs, the current commissioning bodies in the NHS, by 2013, replacing them with ‘consortia’ of GPs.
A better direction for NHS commissioning?
Posted by James Gubb in Health on 29/10/2010
Yesterday, Civitas, in conjunction with the Manchester Business School, published this report, looking at the relationship between the size and performance of commissioners in the NHS. It found none, although both the domestic and international trend is towards larger commissioners, covering larger populations: the direct opposite to what is likely to happen under the Coalition Government’s White Paper on the NHS with the proposed move from PCTs to GP consortia. The evidence, in other words, doesn’t provide much in the way of support for the reforms to commissioning: reforms that are likely to be costly with uncertain outcomes.
Lansley’s plans could set the NHS back by up to 3 years
Posted by James Gubb in Health on 10/07/2010
Moves to transfer commissioning responsibility to GPs could cost the NHS its £20 billion efficiency savings target, and worse
The coalition government’s White Paper on the NHS is due to be published next week. It is widely expected to outline plans to hand control of as much as £80 billion of resources in the NHS from Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to consortia of GPs.
Analysis released today by Civitas suggests such moves are likely to:
- Lead to at least a one year dip in performance in the NHS in absolute terms.
- Set the NHS back at least three years relative to what could be achieved without any structural change.
Read the full report and press release, here and here. For ideas for what the government should be doing, return to the blog tomorrow. Also, have a listen to R4 World Tonight (10 mins 55 secs in).