Number of PCTs is halved in reorganisation
The number of primary care trusts in England will be reduced from 303 to 152 from 1 October, Secretary of State for Health Patricia Hewitt announced this week. The decision follows local consultations, which ended on 22 March.
More than 70 per cent of the reconfigured PCTs will mirror local authority
boundaries. Making the announcement, Mrs Hewitt said: “The White
Paper ‘Our health, our care, our say’ made it clear that
patients want more convenient services and for the NHS and other agencies
to work more closely together to deliver care. These new organisations,
through a closer working relationship with social services, will play
a pivotal role in delivering the vision set out in the White Paper, including
better access to GPs, more information and advice on how people can look
after their own health.”
Alastair Buxton, head of NHS services at the Pharmaceutical Services
Negotiating Committee, said: “The formation of new PCTs will present
challenges to community pharmacy and its local leaders, particularly
in developing relationships with the new bodies. However, there will
also be many opportunities presented by the changes, particularly in
relation to the closer working relationship between health and social
care. The enormity of the change is perhaps overshadowed by the increasing
importance of locality commissioning groups who are developing practice-based
commissioning across the country. Community pharmacy must ensure it has
strong relationships with both the new PCTs and the local commissioning
groups.”
Reorganisation of the ambulance service was also announced this week.
From 1 July there will be 12 NHS ambulance trusts in England, with mergers
of many of the existing 29 trusts. The move aims to cut bureaucracy,
leaving more money to invest in front-line services and better care for
patients. |
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