NHS Buckinghamshire authority to be axed (From Bucks Free Press)

NHS Buckinghamshire authority to be axed

5:25pm Monday 12th July 2010 in

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A BUCKINGHAMSHIRE health authority is to be scrapped as part of a national shake up of the NHS, it was confirmed today.

NHS Buckinghamshire, formerly Buckinghamshire NHS Primary Care Trust, will be axed along with other PCTs.

The Government said PCTs will be ‘phased’ out. The authorities decide where NHS cash is spent, but this will now go to GPs.

Another body, the NHS South Central Strategic Health Authority, which oversees all NHS organisations in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, will also be scrapped.

The Department of Health said: “Management costs will be reduced so that as much resource as possible supports frontline services. The reforms build on changes started under the previous Government.”

A White Paper says patients will be able to choose which GP practice they register with, irrespective of where they live. It pledged a ‘revolution’ of more information for patients.

It also pledges ‘greater competition’ involving private providers. Responsibility for promoting good health will fall to councils.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley said: “People voted for change and the Coalition Agreement set out a bold and exciting vision for the future of the NHS – a vision based on the principles of freedom, fairness and responsibility.

“The NHS is our priority. That is why the Coalition Government has committed to increases in NHS resources in real terms each year of this Parliament.”

It comes after the Conservatives pledged not to demand a reorganisation of the NHS in its election manifesto.

Buckinghamshire doctors’ leader Dr Paul Roblin said he expected county GPs to be ‘enthusiastic’ about taking on this ‘commissioning’ role.

But Dr Roblin, chairman of the Buckinghamshire Local Medical Committee, part of the British Medical Association, said: If they are to take on this role, the Government will have to free up time.

“They may not have the time and we might need more GPs but I don’t see that happening.

“The time has to be ring-fenced for commissioning. You can’t be seeing patients at the same time.”

Yet he said: “If anybody can make it happen then I think Buckinghamshire can.”

The Labour Government let GPs taken on those role voluntarily. The latest move means GPs will effectively have no choice but to take on the role, possibly with support from management consultants.

Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham told the Commons that ‘reorganisation is last thing the NHS needs’.

He said: “It is a huge gamble with a NHS that is working well for patients.”

The Bucks PCT has struggled to balance its books since being formed in 2006.

Managers said they get below average cash from the Government as Bucks is seen as ‘healthy’.