Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local authorities across the country will be allocated £65.6bn for commissioning healthcare in 2013 – an increase of 2.6% in the commissioning budget on this year.
This ‘real terms’ rise in funding will give CCGs, who will take responsibility for local secondary, community and mental healthcare services post April 2013, an equal 2.3% increase in each of their commissioning budgets compared to their share of primary care trust spending in 2012/13.
The announcement made under the NHS Commissioning Board’s (NHS CB) planning guidance for 2013/14 Everyone counts: planning for patients 2013/14 s hoped to give CCGs “stability” in their first year.
“We want to put power in the hands of clinicians who know their patients best,” said chief executive of the NHS CB Sir David Nicholson.
“We want to give them the money, information and tools to do the job.”
The NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will also see a rise in its specialised healthcare and primary care commissioning budget of 2.6% on last year to £25.4bn.
