Are consultants involved in Assura?
The development of most new services and care pathways will require extensive secondary care and consultant input. Many of the integrated services will see primary care and secondary care colleagues working alongside one another, or passing patients seamlessly between them. Given this, the Assura Local LLPs need to work closely with consultants and involve them in the planning and delivery of services. Assura currently does not see consultants becoming members of the GPCo. Assura has sought advice from senior Department of Health and government officials, as well as commissioning representatives who are keen to ensure that there is an appropriate separation between those responsible for referring patients to secondary care services and those providing them to ensure choice for patients. We believe that we can work closely with secondary care to redesign community based services, and where patients need onward referral to secondary care, they will choose to go to the most appropriate lo
