Department of Health to give £110m to CCGs
Released 16/01/2012
The DH gives £100m to CCGs as GPC warns of “bureaucratic nightmare” on tendering following EU proposals
The DH stated that the funding had become available because of “good management” of its central budgets
The Department of Health (DH) is planning to hand over £100m to emerging Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in order to improve local services throughout the winter period.
Many CCGs already hold budgets and already £29bn has been devolved, however, Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley stated that this was the first time the DH had “specifically identified funding for PCTs to delegate to prospective CCGs for patient care”.
The DH has recommended that CCGs should use the money to spend directly in local services that meet the needs of their local area to prevent any unnecessary hospital admissions. The DH has also stated that the funding is not to be spent on additional running costs.
The CCGs are to inform the DH on how they intend to spend their money, though decisions on how to use the funding will be made by CCG after being signed off by PCT clusters.
The DH stated that the funding had become available because of “good management” of its central budgets.
“Bureaucratic nightmare”
Despite this additional funding, CCGs face complications over tendering for services due to EU proposals stating that CCGs must competitively tender.
If the plans are passed, CCGs will be required to perform full procurements on all services under any qualified provider, something that deputy chairman of the General Practitioners Council (GPC), Richard Vautrey, said would cause a “bureaucratic nightmare”.
However, a DH spokesperson said that the plans are not to have any effect on the NHS’s procurement requirements.
They said: “Aside from enabling patients to choose the best providers for their needs, a key benefit for PCTs and CCGs of commissioning services on an any qualified provider basis is that they will not need to undertake competitive tendering, as long as they work within DH guidance. The Directive won't change this.”
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