Clinical Commissioning Groups

(asked on 26th February 2015) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what support and guidance his Department and NHS England have made available to clinical commissioning groups to enable them to effectively commission services for smaller population groups.


Answered by
 Portrait
Jane Ellison
This question was answered on 5th March 2015

NHS England has provided clear direction and support to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on their duties to have regard to reducing health inequalities. In the Forward View Into Action: Planning for 2015/16 it states: “Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) should work with local government partners to set and share in 2015/16 quantifiable levels of ambition to reduce local health and healthcare inequalities and improve outcomes for health and wellbeing.”

Additional guidance for commissioners on the equality and health inequalities duties and what this means in practice was issued within the supplementary information for commissioners, as part of the overall planning guidance for 2015/16.

Furthermore, ‘Reducing Health Inequalities - Meeting our Duties’ regional workshops have been provided in 2014/15 for CCGs and their local partners. These workshops support CCGs, Health and Wellbeing Boards, and local authorities in their legal duties to reduce health inequalities.

It is expected that in all commissioning activities CCGs will have regard to meeting legal duties on health inequalities including to reduce inequalities between patients in access to health services and the outcomes achieved, as outlined in Section14T of the Health and Social Care Act 2012.

A copy of Forward View Into Action: Planning for 2015/16 and the supplementary information for commissioners is attached.

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