Feedback sought on legal changes proposed for NHS Long Term Plan delivery
NHS England are seeking changes to the Health and Social Care Act, including the competition rules affecting CCGs, who can sit on their boards and how closely they can work with trusts. We have submitted initial comments to the Parliamentary Health Committee currently considering this, and want your feedback to inform our responses to both the scrutiny Inquiry, and NHS England’s consultation.
NHS England’s consultation closes on 25 April and the Parliamentary Health and Social Care Committee will be considering the proposals through the latter stages of the consultation period and beyond, and are seeking comment on the changes and their impact. The consultation document can be viewed here.
Early comments were requested by the Select Committee by Monday 18 March for consideration during the first evidence session in early April. The early Londonwide LMCs submission can be seen here.
We would appreciate your thoughts and comments on the recommendation to inform our final response. You can provide your response to us via this short form.
If you would prefer to send a response in directly, we would be grateful if you could share a copy with us via info@lmc.org.uk.
Key points from Londonwide LMCs’ summary response
The prospect of investment going directly into frontline care, rather than having it split up into different funds with bureaucratic application processes, is to be welcomed.
However, there are some key concerns about the legislative changes outlined by NHS England as essential in order to deliver their goals as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan:
- Better Value for Money (p7): we are concerned by proposals to revoke regulations made under section 75 of the HSCA2012 and replace them with a best value test. Such a test would not have consideration for staff well-being. See: https://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/24/10/608 and http://www.annfammed.org/content/12/6/573.full.
- Increasing Flexibility (p9): removing NHS commissioners and providers from the scope of the Public Contracts Regulations would allow NHS commissioners to choose either to award a contract directly to an NHS provider or to undertake a procurement process entirely at their own discretion.
- Integrated care provision (p11): the assumptions made about future bodies and roles appears to run counter to the developing collaborative approach being pursued by London commissioners and providers.
- The NHS working together (p16): we are sceptical about the impact of proposals to amend legislation to enable CCGs and NHS providers to make joint appointments and removing important governance checks when managing public funds and critical decisions.
- Shared responsibility for the NHS (p19): we believe that the stated aims should be quadruple and include consideration of staff well-being.
- Planning services together (p20): we welcome the goal of coordinated planning but are concerned about progressing pooled budgets until further consultation has been conducted about which elements of primary care budgets might be affected.
- Joined up national leadership (p23): the appointment of a single CEO for London’s NHS England and NHS Improvement bodies is one that we welcome.
GP Contract changes – Coronavirus provisions extended (21 Oct 2020)
At the end of September NHS England wrote to practices and commissioners reminding them of the 2020-21 GP Contract changes and announcing announced the extension of some temporary measures introduced...GMC publish new consent guidance (21 Oct 2020)
The GMC have updated their guidance in relation to consent – the guidance comes into effect on 9 November 2020 and can be accessed at the link below: Guidance...Health Select Committee pandemic report (21 Oct 2020)
Amongst other things,Parliament’s Health and Social Care Select Committee called for improvements in referral handling at the primary/secondary care interface, better staff testing (including for GPs and staff) and quoted...Tips of the Month October 2020 (21 Oct 2020)
We provide weekly tips based on common queries which come through to us from London GPs and practice teams. These are shared via social media and collated for...Londonwide LMCs' October 2020 Newsletter (21 Oct 2020)
...NHS 111 First roll-out (21 Oct 2020)
By 1 December NHS 111 will be able to book appointments at emergency departments (EDs) within all London hospitals. This will coincide with a campaign encouraging patients to contact NHS...Calling all general practice managers, business managers, HR managers, finance managers, operational managers, managing partners and site managers (24 Sep 2020)
As part of our Practice Manager Development project, we are able to offer you an opportunity to take-up a fully...Appraisal resumes and GMC to consider Coronavirus impact during investigations (23 Sep 2020)
NHS England has instructed GPs to resume the appraisal process from 1 October, although this will be in a form which is intended to reduce the amount of paperwork involved,...Coronavirus protection for London general practice (23 Sep 2020)
As the only truly independent voice for London general practice, Londonwide LMCs continues to provide constructive challenge on behalf of GPs, nurses and the whole team in each and every...Guidance
We provide expert guidance for practices in our guidance section, as well as an archive of other materials you may find useful.
GP Support
Contact our GP Support team if you need help or advice.
The team provide professional and pastoral support to GPs and practice teams on a broad range of issues.
follow us on...
