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Published date: 25/06/2010
The NHS Confederation's PCT Network, alongside five other organisations, has published a new report on what needs to happen if GPs are to be given responsibility for leading commissioning in the NHS.
It outlines the opportunities that this new policy direction presents, but it warns that evidence from the UK and overseas suggests the policy will take time to develop and that there will be significant challenges in engaging more than an enthusiastic minority of GPs, reversing avoidable use of costly hospital care, and shifting resources into the community.
The report suggests that the key issues that need to be resolved include:
* Engaging GPs and specialist clinicians
* Whether GP commissioning should be mandatory or voluntary
* The incentives and rewards that should be considered
* Clarifying whether clinicians will have full autonomy and responsibility for determining how budget surpluses and deficits should be managed
* The level of management support GPs and specialist clinicians will require
* The size and form, and accountability of GP consortia
