Pharmacists braced as first wave of 34 CCGs authorised
Business Pharmacists were preparing to strengthen their ties with GPs as the first 34 CCGs were given the go ahead by the NHS Commissioning Board on Tuesday, in what it hailed as a historic moment for the health service.
Pharmacists were preparing to strengthen their ties with GPs as the first wave of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) was authorised this week.
The first 34 CCGs were given the go ahead on Tuesday by the NHS Commissioning Board, which hailed the occasion as a historic moment for the health service.
Each of the CCGs had undergone a rigorous five-month assessment, the commissioning board said, but 26 of the groups had conditions placed on them that meant they would have to continue to develop in certain areas before they take up their commissioning responsibilities in April.
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"We expect this to bring real benefits to patients as these new organisations begin to realise their potential" Dame Barbara Hakin NHS Commissioning Board |
 More on clinical commissioning groups
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Leicestershire LPC said it was compiling a list of locally enhanced services that would need to be "scooped up" by the new NHS Leicester City and NHS East Leicestershire and Rutland CCGs. "Those sort of services need to be drawn to the attention of the CCGs so that local enhanced services don't fall over," said Leicestershire LPC secretary Gareth McCague. "We've been reflecting on the list of local enhanced services in readiness for that process." |
Video: Commissioning in the new NHSAnd Cumbria LPC said it had had talks with GPs sitting on its CCGs and was trying to formalise links.
"Certain commissioning GPs have actually got the right message [and] are looking to commission across the board instead of just from their colleagues," said Cumbria LPC joint chief officer Jeff Forster.
From April 2013, 211 CCGs will replace the 152 PCTs that commission healthcare services in their areas. They will have responsibility for up to £65 billion of the NHS Commissioning Board's budget.
"We expect this to bring real benefits to patients as these new organisations begin to realise their potential," said NHS Commissioning Board national director Dame Barbara Hakin.
"This is also an historic moment for the NHS in England – the advent of a new system of clinical commissioning, which gives local clinicians the freedom to respond, innovate and develop services in the way that best meets the needs and wishes of local people," she added.
The remaining 177 CCGs that have yet to be announced will be authorised in three more waves to be published in January, February and March next year.
Last month, NHS Alliance chairman Dr Mike Dixon advised pharmacists that they were more likely to get services commissioned from CCGs in April if they planned them with GPs.
Authorised CCGs
North of England
NHS Blackpool CCG NHS Calderdale CCG NHS Cumbria CCG NHS East Riding NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG NHS Oldham CCG NHS Rotherham CCG NHS Wakefield CCG NHS Warrington CCG NHS West Cheshire CCG
Midlands and east
NHS Bassetlaw CCG NHS Dudley CCG NHS East and North Herts CCG NHS East Leicestershire & Rutland CCG NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney CCG NHS Leicester City CCG NHS North Staffordshire CCG NHS Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG NHS Shropshire CCG NHS Stoke on Trent CCG NHS West Leicestershire CCG
South of England
NHS Bedfordshire CCG NHS Gloucestershire CCG NHS Kernow CCG NHS Newbury and District CCG NHS North and West Reading NHS Oxfordshire CCG NHS Portsmouth CCG NHS Somerset CCG NHS South Reading CCG NHS Wokingham CCG
London
NHS Islington CCG NHS Kingston NHS Wandsworth
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