The first groups of GPs in the East Midlands who will take the lead in the Government’s plans for commissioning health services were announced today by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.
Three groups of GP practices in the East Midlands are among the 52 from across England that have been selected to become trailblazers in leading the reform and taking on commissioning responsibilities as part of the Government’s plans set out in the NHS White Paper Liberating the NHS: Equity and Excellence. The groups of GPs selected, known as pathfinders, will work together to manage their local budgets and commission services for patients directly with other NHS colleagues and local authorities.
These pathfinders will now begin testing the new commissioning arrangements to ensure they are working well before arrangements that are more formal come into place. By being in charge of the decisions that affect their patients, the pathfinders will be able to commission high quality care that is tailored to the specific needs of their patients and the wider community. It has been designed around local decision making and reduced bureaucracy to lead to more effective outcomes for patients and more efficient use of services for the NHS.
The three GP pathfinders that were announced today are based in Nottinghamshire, Bassetlaw and Northamptonshire and already provide healthcare to nearly 800,000 people in these areas. This means around a fifth of the population in the East Midlands will see additional clinical leadership, good partnership working with local authorities, and innovative ways of engaging with patients and the local community.
This is just the start - more GP consortia have come forward to join the Pathfinder programme which will enable as many consortia as possible to test out the new arrangements at an early stage before GP consortia take on statutory responsibilities from April 2013.
Wendy Saviour, Director of Commissioning Development at NHS East Midlands said:
“We are delighted to be in the position of having three consortia leading the way for the East Midlands with more pathfinders to follow in the coming months. The three consortia have demonstrated their readiness and enthusiasm to grasp the opportunities presented by the NHS White Paper.The pathfinder programme will enable groups of GPs to test the new commissioning arrangements and help shape the plans for the move to GPs commissioning health services on behalf of their patients.”
GP pathfinders will be supported by the National Clinical Commissioning Network, the National Leadership Council and national primary care bodies.
