Making change happen: a CCG manifesto for a high quality, sustainable NHS.
At the heart of the NHS reforms in 2012 was a simple idea – that clinicians use their unique relationships with patients and their clinical insights to lead new approaches to healthcare that put patients and local communities at the heart of the NHS.
Clinical commissioning is already making a positive difference: improving outcomes for patients and empowering clinicians, but there is a growing urgency to enable it to achieve much more in light of the challenges currently facing the NHS.
As the membership body for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), NHS Clinical Commissioners has produced this manifesto for national and local government, system leaders, policymakers and politicians to give confidence that local commissioning works. We want to outline what we see as critical asks from the system to ensure CCGs are supported to realise their potential and create a truly transformational NHS.
This manifesto comes from CCG leaders. It’s in their words, it’s honest, open and it seeks solutions from the system.
Our 8 critical asks from the system are as follows:
- Free clinical commissioners to act in the best interests of patients
- Make local system leadership a priority
- Health and wellbeing boards as the focus of joined-up commissioning
- CCGs must not be a risk pool for the NHS
- Support to deliver large-scale transformation at pace
- Connecting national and local commissioning
- Better alignment of local commissioning to healthcare quality and the new inspection regime
- Competition in the NHS in the best interests of patients
NHSCC is calling for urgent action from national bodies to create the right environment for locally enabled clinical commissioning. The manifesto messages have been developed through a series of interviews with CCG Leaders from our membership, and a roundtable event in January with system leaders from across the NHS.
