It’s the question with a thousand answers.
Will CCGs face yearly reauthorisation or not?
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says "absolutely not".
He was that incensed at the "made up myth" that he took the time address the issue not once but twice, first at the NHS Confederation conference and then at the Commissioning Show.
It’s the question with a thousand answers.
Will CCGs face yearly reauthorisation or not?
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley says "absolutely not".
He was that incensed at the "made up myth" that he took the time address the issue not once but twice, first at the NHS Confederation conference and then at the Commissioning Show.
Dame Barbara Hakin, National Director of Commissioning Development at the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) also insisted there will not be a CCG reauthorisation process, but acknowledged there will be an annual reassurance process instead whereby a 360 degree stakeholder report will be made on a yearly basis.
According to Hakin: "really good organisations manage to make decisions so key stakeholders understands and respects them."
She went on to say that one bad relationship between a CCG and a stakeholder may not be a problem, but if at any one point all stakeholders said they were disengaged with their CCG, that would present a problem.
So….isn’t a CCG annual reassurance process reauthorisation by another name?
SHAs seem to think so.
Minutes after Lansley’s comments shouting down claims of CCG yearly reauthorisation at the Commissioning Show conference, I scooted over to a CCG lead who had previously raised fears over the potential for the burdensome process to me, and asked him whether he felt more at ease.
"Not at all. What Lansley doesn’t realise is that is not what our SHAs are telling us," he said.
"Our SHA is adamant we will have to be reauthorised every year. There is a complete disconnect with what he is saying and what is going on on the ground."
It seems to me that this is a question of semantics. Whether they have to face a reauthorisation process or a reassurance process, the fear of kickbacks against unpopular decisions against stakeholders is very real.
Neither Lansley nor Hakin seemed to comprehend how such a fear could hinder the reform’s success.
And that is worrying.
CCGs will have to solve the age old problem of having to reduce capacity and activity in secondary care in a bid to save costs.
Failing to sufficiently protect CCGs from the inevitable resistance they will meet could be devastating.
Ministers and NHS CB senior members must bear this in mind when looking to rubber stamp CCGs to continue on another year.
