UK - Councils should take responsibility for commissioning local health services

Citation

(2007), "UK - Councils should take responsibility for commissioning local health services", Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 20 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhs.2007.21120aab.008

UK - Councils should take responsibility for commissioning local health services

Planning and commissioning local health services, needs to be taken out of the hands of primary care trusts and should be entrusted to local councils instead, according to a new report by Jon Glasby, Judith Smith and Helen Dickinson. The paper: “Creating NHS Local: a new relationship between PCTs and local government” argues that local councils should have a more powerful role in determining health spending priorities thus bringing a greater degree of local democracy to NHS decision making.

Jon Glasby and Judith Smith urge a radical rethink of the current health commissioning system, suggesting there is a need to give people a greater say in the funding and planning of local health services. The report argues that the local NHS needs to find new ways of engaging local people in the development of new services, and in explaining tough decisions when facing budgetary constraints. The report recommends bringing local health planning, funding and commissioning decisions under the control of local councils, with the provision and management of actual health services continuing to be the responsibility of the NHS and other providers. The authors argue that councils are better at managing tight budgets, involving local people in setting priorities, and communicating decisions to local people.

For more information: www.hsmc.bham.ac.uk/news/Whatsnew.htmLocalHS