New rules proposed by NHS England will force commissioning support units (CSUs) to outsource operations in order to meet quality standards or risk losing their accreditation’s, hsj.co.uk reports.
Relevant accreditation – perhaps including the OH&S 18001 Health and Safety standard – will be awarded to CSUs when they can demonstrate that they offer excellent customer service to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), whether independently or via a provider. These providers will themselves be suitably accredited.
This should be made easier for CCGs through the creation of a new procurement framework which forms part of the Towards Commissioning Excellence strategy that is due to be launched later this week. The framework will enable CCG commissioners to choose the best services through clearly detailing service specifications and quality assurance.
That said, CCGs won’t have to use the framework and can still invite external tenders – an option that might require the reviewing and auditing of providers’ performance. NHS England won’t formally consult on the proposals but intends to discuss it with CCGs over the coming months. As it stands, the framework will be in operation by April 2014.
The new framework has been designed, according to NHS England’s Bob Ricketts, to “give CCGs the assurance that they would be working with an excellent provider.
“It should also spur collaboration and networking of CSUs – between themselves, with voluntary organisations and the non-NHS providers – to enable them to provide the best offer to their customers,” he told lgcplus.com.
