Planning for procurement: challenges facing CCGs.
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have inherited contracts and service-level agreements from their pre-existing primary care trusts. They are expected to effect improved services, outcomes and value for money, together with significant cash savings, through the process of procurement and re-procu...
| Published in: | British Journal of Healthcare Management Vol. 19; no. 10; pp. 482 - 488 |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Mark Allen Holdings Limited
Oct2013
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| Summary: | Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have inherited contracts and service-level agreements from their pre-existing primary care trusts. They are expected to effect improved services, outcomes and value for money, together with significant cash savings, through the process of procurement and re-procurement. For many services this is the only means of making savings and once a contract is awarded it cannot be amended (beyond set parameters) until it is renewed, thereby limiting CCGs' room for manoeuvre. This article describes key issues and challenges facing CCGs in developing their approach to procurement and sets out how they might usefully be addressed. They include: assuring the quality of service specifications; staggering contract end dates; designing procurement plans to make best use of key commissioning skills and resources; and timing independent evaluations of contract performance and delivery. Decisions about how CCGs can and should work together are of critical importance given the resulting implications, particularly with regard to balancing cost-efficiency with plurality. |
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