Health secretary Andrew Lansley has insisted CCGs will not be forced to use competition if it does not best suit the needs of their population. Speaking at yesterday's joint NHS...

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has revealed he expects all CCGs to be authorised by next April, as the NHS moves forward from the 'big burst of politics' that has now subsided following the passing of the Health and Social Care Bill.

Ministers are set to extend the unprecedented efficiency drive currently underway in the NHS beyond the four years of the so-called ‘Nicholson Challenge’, leaving GPs facing continuing downward pressure on budgets for the rest of the decade.

GP commissioners will have to justify the more ‘unusual’ use of personal budgets when they are rolled out nationwide in 2014 as media interest is likely to intensify in expenditure on the scheme, says a senior official at the Department of Health.

The Government has lost its appeal against a decision instructing it to publish the risks associated with the introduction of its NHS reforms.