Redbridge GPs take control of NHS budgets – but what does it mean for residents?
The new Clinical Commissioning Group came into being in shadow form in April 2012 - Credit: PA Archive/Press Association Images
It has been heralded as a way of improving care for patients, by putting the men and women who know best at the heart of deciding how money is spent.
Redbridge CCG acting chairman Dr Anil Mehta - Credit: Archant
GPs may not have come into the profession to sit around a table with vast budgets to allocate, but that is exactly what some will now do.
On Monday the borough’s primary care trust – NHS North East London and the City – was abolished.
In its place is the Redbridge Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Every GP in each of the borough’s 46 practices has been required to sign up to the group, which will have £292million to spend this financial year.
You may also want to watch:
The CCG board of nine members, headed by acting chairman Dr Anil Mehta, includes elected GPs, a senior nurse, lay members, senior NHS managers, a practice manager and a secondary care consultant.
Responsibilities include the buying of healthcare services, from cancer care and mental health to hospital operations and prescriptions.
Most Read
- 1 Two men arrested after kidnapping in broad daylight in South Woodford
- 2 Man charged with murder after elderly woman found dead in bathtub in Clayhall home
- 3 Pedestrian suffers 'life-threatening head injury' in Redbridge collision
- 4 Ilford business owners adjust to new world on reopening
- 5 Two men arrested in Chigwell on suspicion of kidnap
- 6 Police officer sacked after 'encouraging friend to lie about collision'
- 7 Man in hospital after car flips over in Wanstead
- 8 Barkingside axe attack: Man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police appeal for witnesses
- 9 Attempted murder arrest after woman seriously injured in Barkingside
- 10 Waste reduction campaign launches with Redbridge fifth largest rubbish producer in England
Dr Mehta said the CCG’s aim is to develop the “full potential of the clinical leadership of commissioning”.
He added: “The CCG clinical directors and I believe that clinical commissioning gives all of us the freedom to respond, innovate and develop services in the way that best meets the needs of local people.”
But not all doctors in Redbridge feel the new model is the best way to deliver health services. Locum Dr Anil Shah, who has been a doctor since August, fears the CCGs could lead to a “back door privatisation of the NHS”.
Dr Shah, 32, added: “In a way it’s harder to commission [services] because you’re competing with so many smaller CCGs. There are a lot more CCGs than primary care trusts – what it could lead to is a postcode lottery.
“What you need is a CCG for north east London so everyone gets the same care.”
Despite the CCG now being active, he said he would not be directly involved in day-to-day decision making.
He added: “The commissioning board’s decisions will be cascaded down but not every GP will have a vote.”
