Health Select Committee inquiry into commissioning launched
The Health Select Committee has announced that it will conduct an inquiry into the implementation of policies for commissioning outlined in the Government's White Paper 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS'. The deadline for submitting written evidence is noon on Wednesday 6 October 2010. Full details are outlined in the Health Select Committee press release below.
Invitation to submit written evidence
Commissioning
The last substantive report of the Health Committee in the last Parliament, published on 30th March 2010, reviewed the progress of commissioning in the NHS. Among its conclusions were the following:
- "Weaknesses remain 20 years after the introduction of the purchaser/provider split".
- "Weaknesses are due in large part to PCTs' lack of skills, notably poor analysis of data, lack of clinical knowledge and the poor quality of much PCT management. The situation has been made worse by the constant re-organisations and high turnover of staff".
The Coalition has made it clear that, like its predecessor, it regards more empowered and more effective commissioning as the key to successful delivery of its objectives for the NHS.
The new Health Committee has therefore decided to follow up the work of its predecessor by holding an inquiry into how the new government intends to resolve the issues which have undermined the effectiveness of commissioning in the NHS.
The Committee is launching this inquiry in the belief that its work can contribute to the debate about the implementation of the policies for commissioning outlined in government's White Paper Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS.
Full details of the consultation questions can be viewed here.
The Committee invites short written submissions from interested organisations and individuals. The deadline for submitting written evidence is noon on Wednesday 6 October 2010. Submissions should be no more than 3,000 words and should sent to healthcommem@parliament.uk.