NHS England » GP-led groups ready to take charge of NHS budgets in every community in England

GP-led groups ready to take charge of NHS budgets in every community in England

14 March 2013

General practice

NHS Commissioning Board establishes fourth and final wave of clinical commissioning groups. New clinical commissioning system is set up across England and all 211 new organisations ready to take up their statutory responsibilities on behalf of local communities.

Local clinicians have been given the go-ahead to take control of the NHS budget in all of England’s local health communities from 1 April 2013, leaders of the independent NHS Commissioning Board announced today.

The final group of 48 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were authorised following in-depth assessment by experts. The first 34 CCGs were authorised in December 2012 with a further 67 CCGs authorised in January 2013 and 62 in February 2013.

CCGs will be responsible for £65 billion of the £95 billion NHS commissioning budget. They have all completed a rigorous assessment, and will in total plan and commission hospital, community health and mental health services on behalf of almost all of England’s population.

The members of CCGs are GP practices meaning that all of England’s 8,000-plus GP practices will be involved in commissioning healthcare. Every CCG’s governing body will also include at least one hospital doctor, nurse and member of the public.

Dame Barbara Hakin, NHS Commissioning Board National Director: Commissioning Development, said: “This is a tremendous achievement by CCGs which have shown remarkable enthusiasm for – and commitment to – bringing the benefits of clinical commissioning to their local communities and are now on the threshold of taking up their new role. CCGs are a vital foundation of a new, clinically-led NHS that is focused on delivering improved health outcomes, quality, patient safety, innovation and public participation.”

In total, 43 of the 211 CCGs have been fully authorised, meaning they met all 119 criteria for authorisation. A further 168 CCGs have been authorised with conditions, meaning they have some additional work to do before they fully meet the criteria. A total of 15 CCGs have also been issued with legal directions, meaning the NHS Commissioning Board, and in some cases neighbouring CCGs, will provide more formal development support, underpinned by legally-binding instructions. The effect of a direction is to either direct how the CCG must work with another CCG or the NHS Commissioning Board to exercise functions.

The NHS Commissioning Board will, later this month, re-assess all CCGs which were authorised in the first three waves of the process. These CCGs have continued to develop and many are expected to be able to discharge the majority of conditions on their authorisation. CCGs authorised in wave four will be reviewed in June 2013.

Dame Barbara Hakin said: “CCGs will have wide-ranging responsibilities with regard to patient safety and will manage very large budgets, so it is vital that they are robust and capable of making important decisions. The NHS Commissioning Board has a duty to ensure CCGs have made arrangements to deliver their responsibilities, and we take that duty very seriously.

“CCGs have made fantastic progress in a very short time. It has always been clear that some of the new organisations would be at different stages to others, often dependent on their previous commissioning activities. CCGs will continue to receive this focused support from the NHS Commissioning Board and we are confident that they will be able to further develop their capabilities within the coming months.”

Read the summary outcomes document