16649 Commissioning Newspaper-A4_Layout 1 04/08/2015 15:46 Page 20
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LEAD PROVIDER FRAMEWORK –
NHS ENGLAND
The Commissioning Support Lead Provider Framework (LPF) gives
commissioners easy access to organisations accredited as
capable of supporting implementation of the Five Year Forward
View and aiding transformational change. The nine approved
providers were announced by NHS England in February - three
are commercial bodies and six are NHS Commissioning Support
Units (CSUs). They provide end-to-end commissioning support
services - from business support, healthcare procurement and
provider management, transformation and service redesign,
communications and business intelligence services - and
specialist decision support, such as medicines management and
case management of individual funding requests.
I
t is not mandatory for clinical
commissioning groups (CCGs) to
use the LPF. However, EU
regulations stipulate that all
commissioning support services
above £172,500 must be procured
through an OJEU procurement
process, or through an existing
framework that has been through
OJEU, to ensure openness and
transparency. NHS England’s
deadline for CCGs to re-procure
existing SLAs with CSUs is April 2016.
Bob Ricketts, director of
commissioning support services
strategy at NHS England, says he is
“exceptionally pleased” with the
current uptake. “I think it’s absolutely
great the way CCGs have
responded to the LPF. I thought we
might have a slow start, but it’s been
the opposite.”
“The whole approach to the LPF is
about commissioners choosing.
They can choose which of the nine
providers they want and for
whichever services they need. We’ve
tried to make the framework as easy
as possible for CCGs to use - they
don’t have to do a full OJEU
procurement, just a minicompetition, where they basically
assess and interview the nine
providers. We’re also providing free
expert legal procurement and
mobilisation support, to make the
approach as safe and easy as
possible for CCGs.”
In a presentation at the Health and
Care Conference, Excellent
affordable commissioning support –
key to delivering the forward view,
Mr Ricketts told delegates that more
than 80 CCGs will be out to
procurement from the LPF by the end
of August. And, he explains: “We’ll
have 14 tendering this month, of
which 10 are already in the process
of mini-competitions. The majority of
the 80-plus CCGs are tendering for
substantial commissioning
requirements by the end of August,
which is great, much better than I
anticipated.”
“It remains our goal to make sure
that every commissioner in a year’s
time has got access to, and has
accessed, excellent affordable
commissioning support to help them
meet the challenges in the Five Year
Forward View.”
Bob Ricketts,
director of commissioning
support services strategy at
NHS England
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HEAR FROM THE LEAD PROVIDERS THAT WERE AT THE SHOW
South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit
provides services to more than 40 CCGs, as well as NHS
England, local authorities, GP practices and provider
trusts. It is the result of a merger of three CSUs on 1 April.
The CSU has a wide geographical spread – from
Penzance to Hastings and from the Isle of Wight to Milton
Keynes. It also delivers national projects. Mark Smith,
director of business development at SCW CSU, says “NHS
England is a big customer for us - and getting bigger and
bigger all the time. But I don’t see the market growing
dramatically because we should be putting money into
patient care, not non-patient care.”
Because of the recent merger, he says: “A significant part
of our business plan this year is about consolidation. I
certai