Health Management and Policy Alert

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

Breast screening: leading a service

Public Health England -
This guidance sets out the principles for local providers and commissioners for the organisation and leadership of local breast screening services.

• Guidance

NHS funding: clinical commissioning groups

House of Commons Library -
This paper gives details of funding allocations for each CCG in England from 2013/14 to 2020/21. It also describes the process used to allocate the funds.

• Research paper
• House of Commons - more detail and supporting documents

Alcohol, drugs and tobacco: commissioning support packs

Public Health England -
This guidance on smoking, drinking and drug misuse is produced for commissioners of tobacco control, drug and alcohol services for adults and young people. It aims to help develop joint strategic needs assessment and health and wellbeing strategies to reduce the harm caused by smoking, drinking, substance use and misuse in both adults and children.

• Guidance

Commissioning better oral health for vulnerable older people: an evidence-informed toolkit for local authorities

Public Health England -
These resources are designed to support commissioners in improving the oral health of vulnerable older people in all settings. The toolkit gives an overview of the impact of oral diseases in vulnerable older people and presents the evidence of what works to improve oral health to inform commissioning.

• Toolkit
• Evidence review
• Public Health England - publications

Health matters: health economics - making the most of your budget

Public Health England -
This guidance outlines how local authorities, NHS commissioners and health care providers can make better evidence-based commissioning decisions, and get the most from their budget using easy to use health economic tools, resources and core principles.

• Guidance
• Public Health England - publications

Less help to quit: what’s happening to stop smoking prescriptions across Britain

British Lung Foundation -

This report highlights a 75 per cent decline in stop smoking aids being prescribed by GPs and pharmacists across Great Britain. It finds that: in England there was a 75 per cent decline in the number of stop smoking aids dispensed in 2016- 17 compared with 2005-6; Scotland saw a 40 per cent drop in stop smoking aids prescribed, while in Wales, the number of all stop smoking products dispensed in 2016-17 fell to just a third of what was dispensed in 2007-08; and regional variation of clinical commissioning group prescribing levels is huge. There are many areas where prescriptions are extremely low, even in areas with high numbers of smokers. The report argues that this is a deeply concerning trend because the most effective treatment for tobacco dependency - medication alongside behavioural support – is now increasingly hard for smokers to access.

• Report
• Press release