Agenda item

This report provides the Board with an update on the work of the Primary Care Commissioning Committee.

Discussion

The CCG had taken over delegated responsibility for commissioning of primary care at the beginning of April 2017. A Primary Care Commissioning Committee had been established six months in advance of this date to oversee the work. The role of the Committee had previously been discussed at the Health and Wellbeing Board, with the Board having asked for an update on the work of the Committee.

The committee was responsible for contracting primary care including approval of mergers closures and changes to contracts. It was supported by an operational group to deliver the GP 5 Year Forward View. The Operational Group was responsible for undertaking activity required by the committee. It was noted that the majority of variations to primary care contracts had been requested by the GP practices themselves.

A Board Member asked whether the CCG was responsible for the overall system to ensure that there were enough GPs in place. The Board was advised that the CCG had overall responsibility. This included developing a workforce plan which included looking at how clinicians could be trained and developed to enable them to better support GPs and looking at how to attract GPs to Medway. The CCG worked closely with the Council’s planning function to ensure that future developments took into account GP provision. Traditional GP services would not necessarily be provided by GPs in the future with some services likely to be provided by other healthcare professionals as the local population increased.

A Member highlighted an issue in relation to a local GP practice that had been looking to close one of its surgeries. Some patients had not wanted to travel to Gillingham but had then experienced difficulty in registering at a practice in Rainham. The Member felt that the process could have been better managed. The CCG representatives advised that none of the GP practices in Rainham had closed their lists to new patients but that some were concerned about capacity and were therefore trying to manage their lists. Where a patient was unable to find GP the CCG was able to ask a practice to register the patient. This had taken place for some patients in Rainham. A minor illness clinic was being piloted in Rochester. This would bring all local practices together to provide on the day appointments for patients with certain health conditions. A second minor illness clinic was due to open in Rainham. GPs and other health professionals would be recruited to run sessions

In response to Board Member questions, it was confirmed that meetings of the Primary Care Commissioning Committee were held in public and the minutes were publically available. In response to a separate question it was confirmed that the CCG had approached the Kent and Medway STP for funding in relation to proposals regarding the Clover Street Clinic and that the application had gone through to a second funding round. The CGG was hopeful that this would be successful.

Decision

The Board noted and commented on the update provided.