Recent events relating to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were the main focus at this year’s Commissioning LIVE London.
Held on Thursday 5 March at Olympia London, the conference’s opening panel addressed the recent changes that CCGs are going through and the links with the Five Year Forward View.
Co-commissioning is welcomed within the profession – a general theme that resonated amongst all the speakers.
The panel’s speakers, Amanda Doyle, Nadim Fazlani and Mike Bewick agreed that co-commissioning is a positive step, making sure patients are at the centre of care.
According to Bewick there is now a strong economic argument that there should be a new deal for primary care and out of hospital care.
Doyle, chair of the NHS clinical commissioners, said: “Co-commissioning gives us a better chance in treating patients outside of hospital.”
And Bewick went on to say: “Never has there been a better opportunity to shift because it is now within the hands of the people who understand.”
The general consensus was that co-commissioning will enable the commissioners, jointly with local services, to do what is right for the population. “We shouldn’t legislate we should encourage and innovate,” explained Bewick.
Doyle said: “The Five Year Forward View is welcomed because it gave us an impression that doing things differently is possible.
“It very much puts us in a situation to focus locally.”
