With
NHS reforms continuing to dominate the headlines and the fast pace of change
nationally, reflected here in Blackburn with Darwen and elsewhere in Lancashire, developments are rapidly taking place.
There
will be a single GP commissioning consortium (GPCC) for Blackburn
with Darwen. Nine GPs recently put themselves forward for an election involving
all GPCC members to take up the six positions on the executive committee of the
interim Blackburn with Darwen shadow GP
consortium.
The
following GPs have been elected:
-
Dr. Alastair Murdoch
-
Dr. Pervez Muzaffar
-
Dr. Zaki Patel
-
Dr. Tom Phillips
-
Dr. Malcolm Ridgway
Seventy
six valid ballot papers were returned and included in the count. The turnout was 70.37% and there was a clear
majority between the sixth and seventh placed candidates.
The
executive committee will run the consortium under a scheme of delegation from
the consortium membership post 2013. One of its first tasks will be to find out
how the 30 GPs (one to represent every practice in the borough) can best advise
the consortium to start the process of commissioning services.
During
the transition phase (2011 – 2013), the GPs will become more involved in
decisions and budgets to ensure they are able to obtain authorisation for full
responsibility for commissioning health services for the residents of Blackburn with Darwen in April 2013.
Plans
to create PCT clusters to sustain management capacity and develop commissioning
support arrangements for consortia have also progressed.
Five
PCT clusters have now been formally agreed for the North
West - pan Lancashire, Cumbria, Merseyside, Cheshire and Greater Manchester.
Blackburn
with Darwen will join Blackpool, Central,
North and East Lancashire PCTs in the pan-Lancashire group. We are waiting for
the Strategic Health Authority to confirm the cluster chair.
Each
cluster will have a single chief executive. The SHA is currently recruiting the
new cluster chief executives and they will be appointed in early April, with
all organisations expected to be operating as a cluster by June.
During
April, selection of cluster directors will begin, with appointments expected by
mid May.
Nationally,
the NHS Commissioning Board is due to set out its high level structure of the
organisation in the spring and proposed structures for the new Department of
Health will be set out at the same time.
