Last month Chris Black asked the District Council how new Primary Care centres are goingt to be created now that Primary Care Trusts are being abolished. However the council didn’t know and sugegsted he wrote directly to the government.
This is the reply he’s had back from a civil servant:
Dear Councillor Black,
Thank you for your email of 14 July to the Department of Health about primary care services. I have been asked to reply.
As you may be aware, under the proposals set out in the White Paper ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’, an independent NHS Commissioning Board will in future be responsible for commissioning primary care services, with consortia of GP practices responsible for commissioning most other healthcare services on behalf of their patients. The Government has published a consultation document, ‘Liberating the NHS: Commissioning for Patients’, which sets out proposals and seeks views on how the NHS Commissioning Board can work most effectively with GP commissioning consortia in future to promote improvements in quality of care. Both of these documents are available to view on the Department?s website (www.dh.gov.uk).
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During the transition to these new arrangements, Primary Care Trusts will remain responsible for commissioning primary care services and for engaging with patients and the public about any proposals for new primary care services
I hope this reply is helpful.
The existing PCT (SEE PCT) have adopted a clear policy of focussing their investments on the Southend area, to the detriment of Rochford District, so this is bad news.
Hockley Residents Association (HRA) has long been campaigning for a fairer approach to health care in this area and we hope other groups will support our ongoing efforts.
None?