In brief

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In brief

Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley set out the government's plans to reform the NHS in the White Paper Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS. One of his flagship policies is the devolution of power and budgetary responsibility for the commissioning of NHS services to GP consortia. The ambition behind this policy is to achieve a clinically led and more patient-focused NHS, yet the key lesson of the past decade is that the impact of these reforms will depend on how effectively they are implemented.

Presentations and talks from the conference

Lord Howe – keynote speaker

Lord Howe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality, gives an overview of GP commissioning and outlines the challenges faced.

Chris Ham – Understanding GP budget holding

Chris Ham, Chief Executive of The King's Fund, examines GP commissioning using evidence from the US and the NHS.

Interviews from the conference

Doctors.net recorded the following interviews with speakers and delegates from the conference:

Dr Paul Zollinger-Read

Dr Paul Zollinger-Read, Chief Executive of NHS Cambridgeshire, provides an overview of how his primary care trust is managing the transition to the new system of GP commissioning.

Dr Joanna Bayley

Joanna Bayley, GP PEC Member of NHS Gloucestershire, gives her view on GP commissioning.

Dr William Lumb

Dr William Lumb, GP and Board Member of Westmoreland Primary Care Collaborative, discusses his experience of implementing GP commissioning, how the system works in practice and the challenges ahead.

Dr Shane Gordon

Dr Shane Gordon, GP and Chief Executive of the Colchester Practice-based Commissioning Group, gives his perspective on GP commissioning.

Katherine Ward

Katherine Ward, Chief Executive of UnitedHealth UK, describes how her company will fit into the new system of GP commissioning.

Professor Steve Field

Professor Steve Field, GP and Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, discusses what GPs think about the new plans set out in the NHS White Paper.

About the conference

This conference explored the challenges of implementing GP commissioning and how it can be effectively translated into practice.  

Key topics included:

  • understanding the building blocks of commissioning
  • referral management and quality improvement
  • establishing effective and successful GP commissioning consortia
  • moving clinicians to the heart of the decision-making.

Programme

Programme and presentations

Opening session

Session two: perspectives on GP commissioning

Session three: Workshops - making it happen

  1. Managing demand and re-designing services: a city-wide primary care collaborative
    Dr Peter Devlin, Clinical Director, Brighton and Hove Integrated Care Service Limited
    Download Dr Peter Devlin's presentation.pdf (268 kb) [pdf]
  2. Creating clinically-led integrated care services
    Dr William Lumb, GP and Board Member, Westmoreland Primary Care Collaborative
    Download William Lumb's presentation.pdf (163 kb) [pdf]
  3. How to create federated models to take on commissioning
    Candace Imison, Deputy Director of Policy, The King's Fund and Dr Nick Goodwin, Senior Fellow, Policy, The King's Fund
    Download Nick Goodwin and Candace Imison's presentation.pdf (132 kb) [pdf]

Panel session: key factors for
establishing effective and successful GP commissioning

Expert speakers included:

  • Ian Dodge, Director, Policy Support Unit, Department of Health
  • Professor Steve Field, GP and Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners
  • Barry Roberts, Director of Innovation, Turning Point
  • Dr Judith Smith, Head of Policy, The Nuffield Trust

Speakers

Keynote speaker

  • Lord Howe, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Quality (Department of Health)

Speakers included the following:

  • Dr Peter Devlin, Clinical Director, Brighton and Hove Integrated Care Service Ltd
  • Ian Dodge, Director, Policy Support Unit, Department of Health
  • Paul Edmondson-Jones MBE, Director of Public Health and Primary Care, Portsmouth City Teaching Primary Care Trust and Portsmouth County Council
  • Professor Steve Field, GP and Chair, Royal College of General Practitioners
  • Dr Nick Goodwin, Senior Fellow, Policy, The King's Fund
  • Dr Shane Gordon, GP and Chief Executive, Colchester PBC 
  • Professor Chris Ham, Chief Executive, The King's Fund
  • Candice Imison, Deputy Director of Policy, The King's Fund
  • Dr Richard Lewis, Partner, UK and Ireland Advisory Services, Ernst & Young
  • Dr  William Lumb, GP and Board Member, Westmoreland Primary Care Collaborative
  • Paul Zollinger-Read, Chief Executive, NHS Cambridgeshire
  • Dr Judith Smith, Head of Policy, The Nuffield Trust
  • Katherine Ward, Chief Executive, UnitedHealth UK.

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From the conference

See also