Doctors handed control of NHS millions in new era for patients

The six in Bassetlaw, Calderdale, the East Riding, North East Lincolnshire, Rotherham and Wakefield are among 23 due to be created in the region controlling 70 per cent of the NHS budget.

They are among 34 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) approved after a five-month assessment described as “rigorous” by NHS chiefs as they prepare to replace primary care trusts from April.

Sir David Nicholson, the NHS Commissioning Board’s chief executive, said: “The creation of CCGs is a great opportunity for the NHS that will have real benefits for patients.

“In future, the vast majority of decisions about how we use the public’s money will be made in the community by the clinicians who are closest to the needs of the people they look after.

“They have the knowledge and expertise to lead the improvements in services that we all 
want to see. We are determined 
to push power to the frontline where talented clinicians and their teams can make a real difference.”

Dame Barbara Hakin, the board’s national director for commissioning development, said a clinically-led NHS would lead to “improved health outcomes, quality, innovation and public participation”.

“We expect this to bring real benefits to patients as these new organisations begin to realise their potential. Many CCGs have already begun to make a difference by taking early responsibility for planning services,” she said.

All 8,000 GP practices in England will be members of a CCG although critics point to evidence doctors have been reluctant to take up key roles in the new organisations which will be faced with making key changes to services as NHS budgets are cut. In the six authorised groups, only two in North East Lincolnshire and Calderdale will have clinicians as chief officers.

In a further sign of the financial problems affecting the NHS, health chiefs in Rotherham list one of their priorities as improving communications with the public over the “efficiency challenges we face”.

In Bassetlaw, CCG bosses say their priorities include improving urgent care services and developing a patient tracking system to help GPs and community staff co-ordinate care of patients returning from hospital. Officials in Calderdale say they will work to prevent people dying early by better cancer screening and diagnosis and improved access to mental health services.

Of the six, which cover 1.4m people in the region, only Bassetlaw has been authorised without any conditions.

Jo Webster, chief officer at NHS Wakefield CCG which has been ordered to carry out further work on its plans for services, said: “This is a crucial step in the development of clinical leadership of commissioning and we will continue to work with the NHS Commissioning Board to refine our plans for the benefit of local people.”

Mike Farrar, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the new groups had the potential to make huge improvements to care but warned their performance “may be patchy at first”. He added: “We must avoid overwhelming CCGs with complexity and instead focus on the key issues – maintaining financial stability and developing new models of care for patients and local communities.”

Authorisation of the remaining 177 CCGs will be in a further three waves, with some finding out if they have been approved in March shortly before they are due to begin work.