The Department of Health has revealed that GP’s will be assessed on their former delivery of NHS efficiency savings before they are handed full commissioning responsibility by the NHS Commissioning Board.

A draft Government document, “Developing clinical commissioning groups: Towards Authorisation” outlines six key competency domains that emerging clinical commissioning groups (CCG’s) will have to meet in order to be handed full control of NHS commissioning budgets.

They will need to undergo an initial risk assessment of their configuration from October 2011 and will have their size and shape assessed to judge whether they are fit to take on PCT functions.
No CCG will take on full commissioning responsibility until April 2013 at the earliest, but the document reveals GP’s will be authorised based on their proven ability to deliver as commissioners.

The report states that CCGs will be building a track record of performance and that therefore authorisation will focus on their potential to deliver efficiency savings. This will take into account participation in improving care of long-term conditions, clinical care in general and other aspects of QIPP (Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention), but will also draw on their track record to date as sub-committees of PCT’s to whom certain commissioning responsibilities have been delegated.

CCGs will be asked to undertake a final risk assessment of how their proposed structure will impact upon their ‘organisational viability’ and the extent to which they will need to consider sharing roles, functions or use of commissioning support. Once authorised, each CCG will face an annual assessment to determine whether it requires ongoing support or conditions attached to its status, based on performance and other aspects of its organisational capabilities and relationships.

A Department of Health spokesperson said that they believe that many emerging CCGs are already likely to score highly against most aspects of such an assessment. It is hoped that this assessment will support emerging clinical commissioning groups in their development and enable them to be as prepared as possible to take on responsibility for healthcare budgets and improving services for their local communities.

The six key domains against which CCGs will be assessed prior to authorisation are:

1. A strong clinical and professional focus which brings real added value
2. Meaningful engagement with patients, carers and their communities
3. Clear and credible plans which continue to deliver the QIPP challenge within financial resources, in line with national outcome standards and local joint health and wellbeing strategies
4. Proper constitutional and governance arrangements, with the capacity and capability to deliver all their duties and responsibilities including financial control as well as effectively commission all the services for which they are responsible
5. Collaborative arrangements for commissioning with other CCGs, local authorities and the NHS Commissioning Board as well as the appropriate external commissioning support
6. Great leaders who individually and collectively can make a real difference

In order that the NHS can align themselves within an increasingly competitive environments, Trusts need to be provided with the tools that can streamline working processes and promote efficiencies. Trusts could therefore seek to implement an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system such as Therapy Manager, which provides managers with a robust suite of management tools to enable on-demand monitoring of key performance measures. The system can report on the Costs of Care and where they are incurred, ensuring managers are supported in clinical decision making which could potentially reduce the financial costs incurred in patient care.

Original Source Pulse Today

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.