Issue - meetings

Report CS14101

The Committee received a report setting out Public Health commissioning intentions for 2015/16.

The Committee noted in particular the intention to seek to commission Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) contracts jointly with around twenty other boroughs through the North East London Commissioning Support Unit.  Members reported that there had been too many separate contracts in the past and problems with poor facilities in the borough. The Director of Public Health reported that the contracts had been rationalised and that there had been a significant improvement in services.  

RESOLVED that the Executive be recommended to

(1)    Note the intention to continue to use a number of previously approved procurement mechanisms for the delivery of the Public Health Commissioning plan, including individual contracting, use of a framework agreement, service level agreements with local general practice and partnership arrangements with the local Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group.

(2)   Note that Public Health take on a new commissioning responsibility for Health Visiting from October 2015 as advocated nationally by the Department of Health; this service, like a number of others, will continue to be provided by Bromley Healthcare, the commissioning arrangements of which have been made through a Section 75 agreement with Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group.

(3)   Approve the intention to pursue a cross-London solution for the commissioning of Genito-Urinary Medicine (GUM) services and enter into an arrangement with North East London Commissioning Support Unit which proposes to negotiate the local tariff on behalf of 20 London Boroughs (any such arrangement will therefore be exempt from the Council’s contract procedure rules.)

(4)  Approve that if a cross-London solution proves not to be viable, the Council continues with its current arrangement of procuring GUM services through Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group using a Section 75 agreement for 2015/16 (this arrangement will require a continuation of the existing exemption from the Council’s contract procedure rules for the next financial year.)

(5)   Approve the continued use of Service Level Agreements for services offered by General Practitioners for 2015/16 by granting an exemption as per sections 3 and 13 of the contract procedure rules.