Not just GPs – a nurse, a hospital doctor and it could be you!
A bit more detail emerging on how the bodies formerly known as GP consortia will change under the NHS pause. The Future Forum didn’t prescribe any particular individual should go on what are being re-named Clinical Commissioning Groups. Under the Future Forum proposals it would still be GPs only. The government is going further than that saying there should be four extra places on every Clinical Commissioning Group in addition to the GPs. It will specify that there should be two lay members and one nurse plus one hospital doctor on each group. Work is still going on to decide how the hospital doctor is selected. They’re keen it must be someone with no conflict of interest, which could mean a clinician from a different area or even a retired one.
Just another point on Monitor. As I mentioned before, when I asked at the press conference what the difference was between a sector regulator (pre-Pause description of Monitor) and an ecomomic regulator, Nick Clegg said there was “the world of difference.” Regulatory lawyers tell me there is no difference whatsoever in legal terms. The government is hoping that the change in terminology highlights the change in thinking. They have, they say, recognised that the original reforms made people think that the market was going to run rampant through the NHS. That was never the case though, they say, and the regulations and rewriting will make that clear to people.