The NHS Reform Bill plans to scrap Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) and Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), in favour of an NHS Commissioning Board and 'GP Consortia'. The Treasury have suggested these reforms may incur a £3bn price tag, at a time when the NHS is being challenged to find 4% annual efficiency savings. The NHS Reforms are currently in a 'feedback period', whilst the Government listens to concerns. In the latest review of NHS Commissioning, MPs on the cross-party Commons Health Committee recommend a number of significant changes to the Health and Social Care Bill. Primarily the Committee suggest that each consortia should expand their knowledge base beyond GPs to include:
• A professional Social Care representative;
• An elected member (a councillor or directly-elected Mayor), nominated by the local authority; • A nursing representative;
• A representative of hospital medicine;
• A public health expert nominated by the Director of Public Health.
With all these executives being accountable to a Chief Executive and a Finance Director, both of whom should be members of the Board. Along with an independent chair. They also suggest that “GP Consortia” should change their name to “NHS Commissioning Authorities”.
The Committee also believe that these proposals would mean that there is no need to separate the commissioning of primary and secondary care, meaning vertical health integration could be encouraged. By making all these understandable changes to GP consortia, perhaps it's also financially prudent to consider if these changes could just be directly implimented into the PCT structure already in place? Ensuring that the evolution of the NHS becomes more publically accountable, but that taxpayers money gets direct front line patient care rather than reorganisations.
