News / Association health committee call

GP consortia will not have to ‘start from scratch’ in order to get the financial support they need, HFMA president Suzanne Tracey told the Commons health committee last month.

Ms Tracey, who had been invited to give evidence to the committee

inquiry into commissioning, said primary care trusts had the necessary skills and it was crucial they were not lost in the run-up to PCT abolition.

‘GP consortia are not starting totally from scratch. This is about how we

get clinical leadership married with good financial management and good financial planning. Of course, those skills exist already in the PCTs and one

of the key points is how we make sure that experience and skill does not

get lost in the transition,’ she said.

‘The cluster arrangements being put in place are a good way of looking

to not lose that from the service. We need to build on that as well.’

Responding to questions about NHS deficits, Ms Tracey said the PCT quarter two forecast deficit of £56m was relatively small. It was difficult

to identify the real, recurrent underlying problem, but the health service

had improved financial management and was making a relatively reasonable surplus. ‘The question will be what it starts to look like on an individual locality basis once the changes that we are moving forward on start to take effect,’ Ms Tracey added.