NHS England has delegated its responsibilities for the direct commissioning of primary care services (primary medical, dental, ophthalmic and community pharmacy services) to integrated care boards (ICBs).

The responsibilities delegated are set out in the standard Delegation Agreement between NHS England and each ICB. This includes contractual management and supporting improvement and transformation of services.

The following documents are currently available to support ICBs with commissioning and contract management of primary care. ICBs are mandated to follow these documents by the delegation agreement.

Primary Care Commissioning  policies

• Primary Medical Care – Policy and Guidance Manual (PGM)
• Dental policies
• Eye health policies
• Pharmacy policies (including the Pharmacy Manual)

Commissioning and Transformation Support

NHS England has set up the Commissioning and Transformation Support (CATS) programme to support ICBs with these responsibilities in relation to general practice commissioning.

The programme is developing tools and guidance in collaboration with ICBs.

Details of the tools available will be provided to ICB teams and added to this page in due course. ICBs can contact their regional NHS England team for further details.

Primary Care Commissioning Assurance

NHS England retains overall accountability for the discharge of its responsibilities delegated to ICBs and therefore requires the necessary assurance that its functions are being discharged safely, effectively and in line with legal requirements. Further details on NHS England’s assurance approach can be found in the primary care commissioning assurance framework.

NHS England remains legally accountable to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), led by the Secretary of State, which is in turn accountable to Parliament.