Earl Howe: The Health and Social Care Act 2012 places a duty on clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to obtain appropriate advice from a broad range of health and care professionals to enable them to discharge their functions effectively. This would include secondary care clinicians, and engagement with secondary care will be essential in the redesign of health services. The National Health Service...
Earl Howe: ...at emerging clinical commissioning group (CCG) governing bodies. It will be for the NHS Commissioning Board (the Board), once established, to scrutinise the governance arrangements of prospective CCGs as part of the authorisation process to ensure governing bodies meet the requirements as set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the National Health Service (Clinical Commissioning...
Baroness Tyler of Enfield: ...and I want to pick out three things. First, the forthcoming changes in the commissioning arrangements give the potential for a greater focus on early intervention. This means commissioners in CCGs and the national commissioning board having access to the right level of mental health expertise, both to assess mental health needs and to commission the right services to meet those needs....
Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: ...who does not take a particularly positive view, as the noble Earl will know-what is not in doubt is that clinical commissioning groups are at the heart of those changes and that the challenge that CCGs face, as we have come to know and love them, is formidable. These clinical commissioning groups are a curious body. They ostensibly are public bodies to be given £60 billion of public...
Anna Soubry: From April 2013, infertility treatment services will be commissioned by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) with the NHS Commissioning Board providing oversight and support. The current National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence fertility guidance is not mandatory for NHS commissioners but the Government has consistently encouraged commissioners to take full account of this...
Nick de Bois: ...lost should a PCT or future CCG not understand or wish to authorise that. It is equally crucial that there should be support for greater awareness of PXE in the NHS among clinicians, as well as CCGs and their support groups, so that they understand the need for urgent treatment. It is perfectly understandable why a disease that, at best, will affect 2,500 people is not widely understood or...
Earl Howe: We plan to publish by the end of this year statutory instruments (SIs) dealing with commissioning requirements for the NHS Commissioning Board and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), Standing Rules for the Board and CCGs, local authority public health functions, local Healthwatch, and care trusts and partnership working. In 2013 we plan to publish further SIs. These will include regulations...
Anna Soubry: ...any matter relating to the planning, provision and operation of health services in their area. From April 2013, this will include the power to scrutinise the work of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) as well as all national health service bodies and relevant service providers from the independent sector. These powers of scrutiny provide an important mechanism for councillors to hold...
Earl Howe: No clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have yet been established in Greater Manchester. As such, none of the proposed CCGs in Greater Manchester have formally appointed their accountable officer, whether clinical or non-clinical. The authorisation process is still underway for all 211 applicant CCGs and the results will not be known until the NHS Commissioning Board takes its final decisions.
Earl Howe: Yes. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will work with elected councillors, local authority commissioners and representatives of patients and the public through health and well-being boards to develop a comprehensive analysis of health and social care needs in each local area, and translate these into action in joint health and well-being strategies and their own commissioning plans....
Anna Soubry: As the authorisation process for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is still under way, during which the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will make an assessment of viability of the CCGs' leadership, we are unable to confirm how many individual leaders the NHS CB has deemed suitable.
Baroness Jolly: ...or all of the SHAs? Can we be equally confident that they will not be lost in the process of transition away from the world of SHAs and PCTs towards that of the national Commissioning Board and CCGs? Finally, I return to the patients. When the Statement was debated earlier this week the noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, who is not in her place today, brought up communication with patients....
Earl Howe: ...better the needs of women, and we need them to inspire the next generation of women doctors. Therefore, to fish for clinical leaders from half the talent pool is not a sensible thing to do. As for CCGs, my noble friend makes a very important point. The NHS Leadership Academy has established development opportunities, including action learning sets for female CCG leaders. But we recognise...
Earl Howe: There are currently 12 prospective clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the Greater Manchester area. An aspirant CCG must nominate an accountable officer at the time of applying to the NHS Commissioning Board (the board) for establishment and authorisation. The accountable officer will be confirmed during this process and formally appointed following the board's final decision on...
Daniel Poulter: ...From April 2013; Primary Ophthalmic Services (the NHS sight testing service and optical voucher scheme) will become the responsibility of the NHS Commissioning Board. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will take over the commissioning of most services, including ophthalmic services in secondary care, and be able to commission eye care services in primary care over and above the NHS sight...
Jeremy Hunt: ...outcomes everyone knows that. To get that comparison to work, we have to ensure that we compare the demographics. Part of the work we are doing is to understand how we can meaningfully compare CCGs, so that the public can truly understand who is doing best and who needs to do better.
Earl Howe: ...set an objective for the board to demonstrate progress against all the indicators in the NHS outcomes framework. We will use a range of evidence to assess the board's performance, including asking CCGs and other stakeholders for their feedback. This will be important, because it will provide the board and everybody else with a much more rounded view of how the health service is doing. The...
Anna Soubry: ...Education England in ensuring that the health workforce has the right values, skills and training to enable excellent care. As part of the authorisation process for Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), CCGs must declare that they will be compliant with the public sector equality duty and can demonstrate the use of the Equality Delivery System or equivalent to help attain compliance and...
Baroness Jolly: ...and mental health. My third and perhaps greatest concern is that the board should help create and sustain local or regional neurological networks to support the commissioning process within CCGs. On my first concern, what are the Government doing to ensure that there is adequate emphasis on and measurement of neurological care? Are these conditions being recorded by GPs? If they are not...
Daniel Poulter: ...South London Healthcare Trust is based on locally made assumptions for projected funding allocations for commissioning groups. The actual allocation of resources to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) is a matter for the NHS Commissioning Board. As set out in the mandate to the board, the Government expects the principle of ensuring equal access for equal need to be at the heart of the...
