Third wave of CCGs pass authorisation

Sixty-two more CCGs have been authorised by the NHS Commissioning Board, although five will require ‘intensive support’.

The third wave of CCGs to undergo authorisation will join the 101 CCGs which have already been approved to take control of NHS budgets and commission NHS services for their communities

Dame Barbara Hakin, the NHS Commissioning Board’s national director for commissioning development, said that 163 CCGs are now in full operation, although five among the new crop will needed ‘intensive support’.

Dame Barbara said: ‘The vast majority of these 62 new organisations have demonstrated excellence and a very high level of achievement and are clearly ready for the challenge of leading their local health communities in partnership with the public and local partner organisations.’

The remaining 48 CCGs will be authorised next month, so that from April 1 a total of 211 CCGs will be responsible for £65 billion of the NHS’s annual £95 billion budget, Dame Barbara added.

Dr Michael Dixon, interim president of NHS Clinical Commissioners, the independent organisation representing CCGs, said: ‘Given the timelines and the fact that the Health and Social Care Act was passed less than a year ago, it is extraordinary that clinicians have been able to step up to the mark and get their organisations to this stage in such a short time.’

Each CCG will need an ‘individual package of support’, said Dr Dixon. He added that the NHS Commissioning Board’s role is to ensure CCGs are fit deliver their responsibilities rather than to ‘micro-manage’ how they deliver patient outcomes.