GPs get new powers to commission services direct
GP practices will be able to commission services under new powers to be implemented in April 2005.
Introducing this practice-led commissioning was an aim of the NHS
Improvement Plan published in June. The new powers mean that GPs can opt to receive
a budget from their primary care trust and use it to fund services they
choose for their local population. It will be up to individual practices
to decide whether or not they wish to participate in the initiative.
A Department of Health spokeswoman told The Journal that pharmacists
are one of the service providers from whom GPs could commission services.
Practice-led commissioning has been
piloted in Bradford. Ian Rutter, a GP in Bradford, commented: “Our
experience of offering practice-led commissioning has been immensely
positive. It has achieved greater involvement of clinicians and practices
with their patients in decisions about care.”
GPs’ commissioning budgets will be based on the practice’s
historical spend for the
previous year. Practices will be expected to balance their budget over
a three-year cycle and yearly overspends will be met by the PCT. PCTs
will remain legally responsible for the contracting process. Any savings
made by GPs commissioning services more efficiently will have to be reinvested
in patient care. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
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