Health reforms

It proposed:

• commissioning of health services transferring to GPs along with approximately £80bn budget
• the abolition of primary care trusts (the organisations that currently commission health services) and strategic health authorities
• greater patient choice over providers and treatment
• establishing an independent NHS Commissioning Board
• ensuring all health trusts are foundation trusts by 2013 and giving them greater freedoms
• transferring the public health budget to local authorities

The White Paper can be found at 'Liberating the NHS'

A further document ‘Liberating the NHS: Legislative framework and next steps’ was published in December 2010.

The proposals are currently being taken forward in the Health and Social Care Bill, which was introduced into Parliament on 19 January.

Update 

The government has announced a three month ‘pause’ on the Health Bill to carry out 'Listening Exercises'. These were launched on 6^th April 2011. For more information, you can see a copy of the DH press release announcing the launch of these exercises.

The Listening Exercises are an opportunity for the government to ‘pause, listen, reflect and improve’ and are an opportunity for people to share their views and have their voices heard. The process is being overseen by the NHS Future Forum, a group of clinicians, patient representatives, voluntary sector representatives and others from the health field, who will report to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health on what they have heard on the following four key themes: 

• the role of choice and competition for improving quality

• how to ensure public accountability and patient involvement in the new system

• how new arragements for education and training can support the modernisation process

• how advice from across a range of healthcare professions can improve patient care

The NHS Future Forum is expected to meet regularly over the next few weeks, with weekly teleconferences and several full day meetings.  A programme of events across the country is also being arranged  to ensure that the Forum engages with all stakeholders and communities. 

For information about what is happening in the North West around ‘Working Together for a Stronger NHS’, please visit here.

All responses and views should be submitted as early as possible - and by 31st May 2011 at the latest. For details on how to send in your feedback, please visit here.

A Listening Report is then expected to be due for publication in early June. After this, the Forum is expected to continue playing 'an active role in listening and advising on other non-legislative aspects of the modernisation plans, implementation of the changes, and the design of any secondary legislation'.

After the pause, you can continue to track the progress of the Health Bill.You can also keep up to date with the latest coverage and announcements on this website or by following the Department of Health on Twitter.

GP Consortia

GPs in Blackburn with Darwen will be among the first in the country to form a consortium to commission local health services.

Elections are due to take place during March to appoint six GPs to run the consortium, which is expected to be up and running in shadow form by April.

The GPs will be given control of budgets and be responsible for designing, developing and buying local health services.

The consortium will work closely with consortia that are expected to be set up in the other five localities across Pennine Lancashire.

More details will be available shortly.

Health and well being board

Blackburn with Darwen will be one of the first areas to set up a health and well being board to promote partnership working between the NHS, social care, public health and other services.

The government has asked councils to form health and well being boards to oversee local health and well being services on behalf of the GP consortia locally and the new NHS Commissioning Board at regional level.

The first meeting of Blackburn with Darwen’s health and well being board will take place in February and the board will run in shadow form until GP consortia take over from the Care Trust Plus in April 2013.

Meeting dates for the remainder of the year are currently being agreed and will be added to this site as soon as they are available.

As an early adopter, Blackburn with Darwen will play a key role in shaping the future role of health and well being boards and will work with Leicestershire, Lewisham, East Sussex, Suffolk and Wigan to find ways of:

• Ensuring a smooth transition
• Improving outcomes and partnership working
• Building relationships between GP consortia and councils and other partners
• Ensuring accountability and transparency

 PCT clusters

The government wants PCTs to work together in ‘clusters’ to ensure a smooth transition to GP commissioning and support the development of GP consortia.

Cluster arrangements must be in place by June this year.

The Department of Health has published guidance on PCT cluster arrangements.

Blackburn with Darwen Care Trust Plus is currently considering the guidance and further information about what this means for us locally will be available shortly.

Public Health White Paper

The government launched the public health white paper in November 2010, setting out plans to put public health back into the hands of local councils.

See the Public Health White Paper section for more information.

Click here to see a presentation about the public health white paper.

The public consultation period has been extended to March 31, 2011.

The Health and Social Care Bill was introduced into Parliament on 19 January 2011. The Bill is a crucial part of the Government’s vision to modernise the NHS so that it is built around patients, led by health professionals and focused on delivering world-class healthcare outcomes.

The Bill takes forward Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS (July 2010) and the subsequent Government response Liberating the NHS: legislative framework and next steps (December 2010) which require primary legislation. It also includes provision to strengthen public health services and reform the Department’s arm’s length bodies.

The Bill contains provisions covering five themes:

• strengthening commissioning of NHS services
• increasing democratic accountability and public voice
• liberating provision of NHS services
• strengthening public health services
• reforming health and care arm’s-length bodies 

You can find more details at the Department of Health website and also at the BBC where an NHS shake up question and answer section has been produced. For those who missed it, there is another chance to listen to the Secretary of State's latest BBC interview about modernisation of the NHS.