Health Management and Policy Alert

A summary of the Network Contract Directed Enhanced Service (DES) 2019/20

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee -

At the end of January 2019, NHS England published a five-year framework for GP services agreed. One of the major changes in the contract is the introduction of the Network Contract as a Directed Enhanced Service (DES). This will enable general practice to take a leading role in every primary care network It goes live on 1st July 2019. The briefing highlights aspects of relevance to local pharmaceutical committees and community pharmacy contractors.

• Briefing
• More detail

Please procure responsibly: the state of public service commissioning

Reform - 

By examining the complex systems used by central government and local councils to procure public services, the report explains how public services are delivered and by who. It identifies several key areas where weak or underperforming elements in the commissioning cycle have led to failings in the procurement of public services and suggests potential solutions to some of these challenges.

• Report
• More detail

Urgent dental care: evidence review

Public Health England -
In 2016 NHS England recommended that urgent dental care should be transformed in line with the transformation of urgent and emergency care services more generally, and that a commissioning standard was needed. This rapid literature review on urgent dental care provides evidence to inform the development of the commissioning standard for urgent dental care services and identifies research gaps.

• Guidance
• Public Health England - publications

The future of global health procurement: issues around pricing transparency

Office of Health Economics -
This research paper focuses on the role that price transparency may play in the efficient and effective procurement of medicines by Middle and Low Income Countries. It discusses whether making prices publicly available make procurement more efficient and cost-effective medicines more accessible. The paper concludes that transparency of the procurement process significantly lowers costs by encouraging bidders.

• Report
• Office of Health Economics - press release

Clinical commissioning groups

Public Accounts Committee -
This report looks at changes to the structure of NHS commissioning organisations. It describes how the Long Term Plan sets out the intention for Integrated Care Systems to cover the whole of England by 2021, resulting in a reduction in the number of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). It finds that many CCGs are currently underperforming which the report concludes will need to improve as they take on the responsibility for commissioning services across larger populations. The report also concludes that getting the commissioning structures right will be an important part of delivering the NHS Long Term Plan.

• Report
• Public Accounts Committee - news

Best practice update on conflicts of interest management: call to action for CCGs February 2019

NHS England - 

This document aims to support clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to identify and manage conflicts of interest. This guidance is a practical toolkit whcih includes templates and case studies to support CCGs with conflicts of interest management.

• Guidance
• More detail

NHS operational planning and contracting guidance 2019/20

NHS England - 

This full planning guidance replaces the preparatory guidance published in December 2018 and covers system planning, the financial settlement, full operational plan requirements, and the process and timescales around the submission of plans. It is being published along with five-year indicative clinical commissioning group (CCG) allocations.

• Guidance
• More detail

A review of the role and costs of clinical commissioning groups

National Audit Office -
This review sets out: changes to the commissioning landscape before CCGs were established; the role, running costs and performance of CCGs; and the changing commissioning landscape and the future role of CCGs.

• Report
• National Audit Office - publications

Understanding the new commissioning system in England: contexts, mechanisms and outcomes

Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System -
This study explores how the new commissioning system is functioning after reorganisation of the NHS in England in 2012. This research aimed to assess the impact of the reforms on the operation and outcomes of the commissioning system.

• Report
• Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System - news

Investigating recent developments in the commissioning system: final report

Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System (PRUComm) - 

There is now a more complex local landscape of organisations all of which need to be involved in the planning of local services; and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) need to be able to find ways to engage with them effectively. This project investigated the initial stages of this process. The questions addressed by the research were: how are CCG internal processes of decision making changing?; what is the role of the individual CCG in the current commissioning landscape?; how is accountability maintained by CCGs in the current commissioning landscape?; how is competition and the current pricing regime relevant to CCGs’ commissioning decisions?; and how should commissioning develop?

• Report
• More detail