What does the future hold for GP commissioning?
The question is whether the will to make PBC work is strong enough to overcome the current financial pressures. A common complaint from GP commissioners at the NAPC summit was that they felt their voice was not being heard, and that even the relatively few success stories for PBC were ‘framed’ in terms that appealed to managers – mostly in terms of cutting costs. Dr James Kingsland, NAPC president and the Government’s national clinical lead for PBC, says that unless the principles behind the policy are adopted by all, the NHS will have to make ‘slash and burn’ cuts or severe reductions in workforce and pay – ‘neither of which are palatable’. ‘Clinical commissioning is the only show in town. If clinicians are not doing it, and PCTs don’t do it, it could be a career breaker,’ he warns. This move towards real budgets looks certain to accelerate, particularly if the Conservatives win the next election. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has declared the current PBC set-up as ‘bust’, bu
