Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt this week announced the reorganisation of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England, almost halving the number from the current 303 to 152. The new Primary Care Trusts will be established from 1 October 2006.
The DH said the announcement was the final part of the ‘Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS’ consultation, which ended on 22nd March. Local public consultations were held by the 28 existing Strategic Health Authorities and the decisions are based on the results of those consultations.
Remarkably, the findings of this public consultation almost exactly match the reconfiguration of primary care trusts announced last summer by Sir Nigel Crisp, the then chief executive of the NHS. The reconfiguration and merger plans, designed to deliver £250m in savings, were criticized at the time for lacking sufficient consultation.
With the final decisions now taken on PCT reconfiguration, the planning blight that has affected some PCTs on strategic areas such as IT investments as they waited to learn of their future can be overcome.
Hewitt said of this week’s PCT merger announcement: "In the longer term the new PCTs will deliver better value for money, through greater purchasing power and lower administrative costs. In the next two years I expect to see annual savings of £250m to plough back into front line services."
The Secretary of State added: "I have spent a great deal of time considering local views and concerns about the reconfiguration and have not been afraid to respond to these concerns in my final decision. These changes make it clear that there is not a blueprint for PCTs across the country and the final decisions reflect a range of views and will deliver the best for patients in all parts of the country.
According to the DH reducing the number of PCTs to 152 will enable them to "commission the very best services for their local people, that are shaped around the needs of patients and deliver the very best value for money for taxpayers.” More than 70% of the new PCTs will mirror Local Authority boundaries.
Hewitt said: "These changes will also put more power into the hands of GPs and other frontline NHS staff and give them a greater say how services can be delivered around the needs of their patients.
The proposals to reconfigure the PCTs were subject to a 14-week local consultation led by the existing SHAs. The consultation ended on the 22 March 2006. The proposals were then submitted to the Department of Health and were subject to a detailed assessment by an External Panel. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt then made the final decision on the new PCT boundaries.
In April the Health Secretary announced changes to the Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs). The number of SHAs will be reduced from 28 to 10. The new SHA Chief Executives and Chairs were announced on 5th May.
In addition, from 1 July, many of the existing 29 NHS ambulance trusts will merge into 12, with separate management arrangements for the Isle of Wight.
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