Practice managers ready to take a lead role in CCGs
Released 21/09/2011
Practices rate working together and developing relationships with other hospital doctors and clinicians among their top priorities in the run-up to commissioning, a study by the PPC has revealed
The two main findings were that maximising income (91.8% said was important or very important) and working to develop relationships with other health professionals (97.1% said was important
Working together and developing better relationships with other hospital doctors and clinicians have been rated as the top priorities for general practices in a recent practice management survey by NHS Primary Care Commissioning (PCC), which also revealed that practice managers are eager to take a lead role in clinical commissioning groups.
The development of the CCGs also emerged as a significant aim, with 86% of practices rating it as important or very important. Other policies of note were maximising income, raising clinical standards and working with patients to develop practice methods.
Helen Northall, chief executive of PCC, said: "This survey shows that practice management has completely got the idea that they have to become team players, whether that's working together as providers or in commissioning groups.
"Of course practice managers need to stay focused on keeping the business healthy, but the survey provides strong evidence that clinical standards and the health of patients are still top priorities.
"It also suggests that practice managers are ready to take a leading role in CCGs, but questions remain about whether practices are prepared to invest enough in training and development."
The budgets that are available to practices to use on training and development remain small however, as only three per cent of practices allocate more than £5,000 to training, with the average practice dedicating as little as £500 for such purposes.
Furthermore, a fifth of practice managers said they did not know how much their practice spent on training and development, suggesting that resources are not available and that formal budgets may have not been identified.
The potential for practice mangers to think and act collectively is yet to be shown its limits, however, as the CCGs are yet to come into force and many are hesitant about merging back-office functions and other formal organisational arrangements that could compromise the independence of practices or threaten their own roles.
The two main findings were that maximising income (91.8% said was important or very important) and working to develop relationships with other health professionals (97.1% said was important or very important) are set to be the two major aims for the future of general practice.
The findings of the survey correlate with the changes presently occurring within the NHS, as the advent of CCGs promotes an opportunity for practices to work together, and the shrinking NHS budget requires practices to look harder for their sources of income.
See more news stories like this
Get a Free trial subscription to Practice Business