Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to increase public involvement in decision-making by clinical commissioning groups.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have a statutory duty to make arrangements to involve the public in commissioning services for National Health Service patients. The duty ensures that CCGs act fairly and proportionately when decision making in circumstances where there may be an impact on services.

To support CCGs, NHS England published statutory guidance entitled Transforming Participation in Health and Care in September 2013. CCGs must have regard to this guidance. A copy of the guidance can be found at the following address:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/trans-part-hc-guid1.pdf

In April NHS England also published Annual Reporting on the Legal Duty to Involve Patients and the Public in Commissioning which can be found here:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/guid-annual-reprting-legal-duty-july16.pdf

NHS England has also published Engaging Local People: A Guide for local areas developing Sustainability and Transformation Plans in September 2016, available from:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/engag-local-people-stps.pdf

Revised guidance for CCGs in relation to their duty to involve the public will also be published in spring 2017.

In addition, CCGs are required by statute to use the NHS Standard Contract when commissioning secondary healthcare services from providers. The NHS Standard Contract places obligations on providers, which if necessary are enforced by CCGs. Public involvement in the decision-making by providers is included in clause 12.5 of the NHS Standard Contract as follows:

“The Provider must involve Service Users (and, where appropriate, their Carers and Legal Guardians), Staff, Service Users’ GPs and the public when considering and implementing developments to and redesign of Services. As soon as reasonably practicable following any reasonable request by the Co-ordinating Commissioner, the Provider must provide evidence of that involvement and of its impact.”

Therefore, if a CCG and provider propose a change to a service, the provider must engage with the public.