Last update: February 2013
A massive reorganisation is taking place across the country. The Primary Care Trusts who previously organised all primary care services are being disbanded. Their responsibility included: contracts with GP practices to provide health care; district nurses; contracts with hospital providers for 'secondary care' services.
These will now be replaced by locality boards (this area is 'WelHat'), under a Hertfordshire commisioning group (CCG). GPs have often felt they should have more ability to shape services that they use for their patients.
The locality and commisioning groups will contain GPs however there is a lot of concern about the position they will be put in:
1. Use of private providers. Some see the Department of Health rules on how services can be commisioned as restrictive and may make it very hard to chose the most appropriate provider. This may lead to private providers taking control over some services causing some NHS organisations to close.
2. The NHS budget has been climbing for many years. As costs increased the Government would put in more money to cope. The budget has now been frozen, however the demand for services and more expensive procedures/drugs has continued to rise. The concern is that the 'difficult decisions' that have to be made for the health service to survive will be blaimed on 'the GPs' rather than the governement explaining properly why these decisions have to be made.