Minutes:
Dr Bhan informed the Board that full delegation of commissioning to the CCG had now been granted. The term ‘co-commissioning’ would be obsolete going forward. It had been agreed that the CCG would need extra staff to help with the additional work involved, now that full delegation had been achieved. This being the case, it had been decided that some staff would be seconded from NHS England to assist. Dr Bhan mentioned that six south London CCGs worked collaboratively to share resources. A team was being established to take care of routine business administration functions.
Dr Bhan explained that the NHS would continue to manage complaints and the appointment of individual GPs. A Primary Care Team was being developed, and this would be managed by Jessica Arnold (Head of Primary and Community Care-Bromley CCG). The seconded team from the NHS would be managed by Southwark CCG, based at Skipton House. A Memorandum of Association (MOU) had been formulated between all of the six south London CCGs. There was also an MOU agreed between Southwark CCG and NHS England.
New protocols would be developed to deal with conflicts of interest. A Primary Care Committee had also been set up and was meeting on 4th May. Underneath the Primary Care Committee would sit a steering group and a clinical referral group. The membership of the Primary Care Committee would be the same as the Joint CCG Committee, with additional representation from the Local Medical Council (LMC). The final structure of the combined operating model would be decided in due course.
Dr Bhan informed the Board that the CCG had recently received their finalised budget allocation, and this was less than had been anticipated.
Dr Bhan reflected on some of the advantages of the new delegated structure:
· The improvement of Care Pathways
· Sensitive and specific work could be undertaken with GP practices
· Better monitoring of GPs, leading to better quality GPs
· The development and improvement of GP Practices
· CQC visits to GP surgeries would be programmed in-this was something new for GP surgeries
Dr Bhan notified the Board that one practice in Bromley had been rated as inadequate. She continued that there was currently a lack of GPs and Practice Nurses, and so the CCG had to consider what they could do to provide support in these circumstances. Councillor Evans asked what was wrong with the practice that had been found to be inadequate. Dr Bhan explained that this was to do with the organisation of the practice—issues such as systems, processes and training, but was not related to the provision of care and treatment.
The Chairman acknowledged the complexities involved, but was hopeful that delegated authority would assist with the integration process. He stated that this was a major change in healthcare provision. The Board noted that Dr Agnes Marossy was being seconded for an 18 month period to work with Bromley CCG.
Dr Lemic commented that LBB was only a small commissioner, but had previously liaised with NHS England. Now LBB would need to link with the CCG. It was also the case that NHS England would still commission some services and so it was important that all parties linked together properly.
RESOLVED that the Primary Care update be noted.