Hounslow now one of the first GP pathfinders

GPs to commission services for patients

Hounslow’s Great West Commissioning Consortia (GWCC) has been successful in achieving pathfinder status as announced this week by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley.

Being among the initial 52 GP consortia from across England that have been selected means the GWCC will be one of the first to take on commissioning responsibilities. This forms part of the Government’s plans set out in the NHS White Paper Liberating the NHS: Equity and Excellence. As a pathfinder they will work to manage local budgets and commission services for patients direct with NHS Hounslow and the London Borough of Hounslow.

All 57 GP practices In Hounslow are members of the GWCC, covering the entire registered population. NHS Hounslow is working to support the GWCC to become operational in shadow form early in the New Year before they begin to take on statutory responsibilities from April 2013.

Dr Nicola Burbidge, GP at the Wellesley Road Surgery in Chiswick and Chair of the Great West Commissioning Consortium, said: “It is fantastic news that our Hounslow GP consortium has been selected as a pathfinder. This will allow our GPs to put in place health services that achieve better health outcomes for the people of Hounslow. GPs in Hounslow are keen to take on additional responsibility for commissioning services, in line with the proposals set out in the NHS White Paper.”

Dr Burbidge added “Over the last few months we have worked closely with NHS Hounslow and are taking an increasing role in shaping and making decisions on service improvements including a new community dermatology service and a new Referral Facilitation Service that will handle all referrals, including consultant-to-consultant referrals. We are applying to have delegated responsibility for prescribing and planned care budget from April 2011”

General NHS information can be found at www.hounslowpct.nhs.uk or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NHShounslow , join the facebook group http://bit.ly/NHSHounslowFB.  

December 9, 2010