A new joint report, Collaboration in Clinical Leadership, from NHS Clinical Commissioners (NHSCC) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) highlights how collaborative working between CCG leaders and secondary care doctors can provide a real benefit to the health service provision of local people.
Since the Health and Social Care Act established CCGs in 2012 there has been some uncertainty around how secondary care doctors, on CCG governing bodies, can best support local commissioning. This report demonstrates the potential that this role can have, whether this is for the clinicians involved, or the wider CCG, or – most importantly – for local people and patients.
Through the use of case studies, from across England, it supports CCG leaders and secondary care doctors to understand how they can make the role work - whilst also showing the diverse ways secondary care doctors have contributed to CCGs since their creation 2 years ago.
The case studies within the report share their experiences on the challenges and successes they have faced, both personally and professionally, and how they are translating these experiences into learning for the future. They also focus on the flexibility the role has taken on – in particular how this has had the effect of tackling local pressures whilst making real changes to commissioning for local people.
As noted by one contributor:
Our secondary care doctor further enhances the quality of decision-making by ensuring that all key decisions take into account the perspective of a hospital clinician. They help us understand the complexities of acute hospital services and their input ensures a clinical perspective across the whole patient pathway. The CCG is also better placed to support and challenge providers to provide the best possible services for our patients.
On the release of the report, the RCP’s Registrar Andrew Goddard said:
The RCP ensured that the expertise and experience of secondary care doctors was an element of CCG governance during the passage of the Health and Social Care Act in 2012 – therefore it is rewarding to see this role making a real difference on the clinical commissioning landscape.
This important and valuable role offers strong foundations for much wider, continuous engagement between local CCGs and secondary care doctors. It is essential for CCGs to reach out to the local clinical workforce and engage them. Similarly, secondary care doctors need to be proactive in engaging with local commissioning systems in order to influence and support real change for their patients.
Welcoming the publication of Collaboration in Clinical Leadership Dr Steve Kell, co-chair of NHSCC, said:
The role of the secondary care doctor has much to offer local commissioning – be it insight, experience of secondary care pathways, critical challenge or acting as a non-executive. The evolution of the role will also be important as we move closer to co-commissioning, supporting CCGs with robust decision making and transparency.
Our members are committed to making clinical commissioning work, and this report shows how CCGs have worked with their clinical colleagues to overcome some initial practical challenges to harness the breath of expertise that secondary care doctors can provide on CCG governing bodies.
For more information, please contact Morgan Evans, RCP communications and new media adviser, on 020 3075 1468 / 0779 508 8253, or email Morgan.Evans@rcplondon.ac.uk