He said:

“We do not feel the findings of the report accurately reflect the improvements made to progress commissioning in recent years given the numerous examples submitted to the committee.

“All healthcare systems need a commissioning function to operate effectively. We continue to believe that the current system designed to achieve value for money and hold provider organisations to account has been beneficial for NHS patients in England.

“The purchaser-provider split has helped drive up quality and accessibility of NHS services but there is more that can be done to build upon this. Promoting a more joined-up approach between commissioners and providers will be essential as the economic downturn impacts the NHS.

“We believe that the figure of 14 per cent for administrative and management cost the committee refers to is both out of date and has no relevance to the commissioner provider split as the report implies. This is both unhelpful and misleading.

“Strong commissioning is necessary more than ever as the NHS faces its toughest financial challenge. This will require PCTs working closely with GPs, healthcare providers, staff and patients to ensure quality of service is not affected.

 David Stout, director of the PCT Network, added:

“While the full impact of the World Class Commissioning programme may not be evident for another two years, the first year results show the significant progress PCTs have made and we would urge caution against disregarding this.

“This report does not offer a recommendation on how best to improve commissioning functions yet it suggests a fundamental restructuring of the NHS which would be counter-productive and fail to address the committee’s specific concerns.”