Language
Country/Area
No result found
From 211 to 135: What secrets are hidden behind the merger of clinical commissioning groups?
Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are National Health Service organisations set up under section 2012 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the provision of NHS services within their respective areas in England. From July 1, 2022, these teams will be abolished and replaced by an integrated care system, which has again raised concerns about the hidden motives behind the reforms.
The establishment and evolution of CCGs
In 2010, the government announced that GPs would take the lead in this commissioning role, in an attempt to create a more clinically driven system that was more tailored to the needs of patients. When the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into force, 211 CCGs were established, however, over time, through a series of mergers, this number has been reduced to 135 as of April 2020.
“We want to create a clinically driven commissioning system that is sensitive to the needs of patients.”
Merged Background
Initial reaction to the merger was controversial. In the first three years of its existence, resistance to any merger proposals was quite strong, but as financial pressures increased, the reality of merger inevitably emerged. The formation in 2018 of the UK’s largest CCG, Birmingham and Solihull CCG, which is responsible for commissioning services for more than 1.3 million patients, reflects this policy shift.
Relationship with local governments
CCGs are also exploring opportunities for collaboration in integrating services with local councils. For example, Brighton and Hove CCG announced in 2017 that it would merge some services with the city government to reduce duplication of health and social care resources, which also suggests that more similar models may appear in the future.
"The combined service organization will help improve efficiency and reduce waste of resources."
Challenges in operation
Although CCGs have a certain degree of flexibility and autonomy in their operations, many problems still exist. Many GPs feel low levels of involvement in CCGs’ decision-making processes, according to a survey. For example, in 2014, only half of GPs said they felt involved in decision-making in CCGs.
Fund Allocation and Quality Control
In terms of funding allocation, UK CCGs manage billions of pounds of funds each year, and their allocation criteria depend on a variety of factors, including population age structure and socioeconomic conditions. However, the approach to quality control has been questioned, with most CCGs unable to effectively monitor their contracts and quality standards in the private sector.
“Some CCGs failed to manage private contracts and failed to develop effective monitoring mechanisms.”
Adapting to new challenges
During the epidemic, many functions of CCGs were temporarily transferred to the command center of NHS England, which not only demonstrated the flexibility of the system, but also exposed the limitations of CCGs in crisis management. This highlights that the future reform direction of CCGs may focus on more efficient resource allocation and improvement of crisis response capabilities.
Future Outlook
With the reform of the medical system, how to establish a more transparent and efficient medical management mechanism has become the focus of attention from all walks of life. There are different views on the future of DCGs, especially how the roles and responsibilities of each group will change under the new framework of integrated care systems? This makes us wonder how England's healthcare system can better adapt to the needs of patients in the future?
