Aligning commissioning policies

Note: the opportunity to comment on these proposals has ended and GPs are now considering the feedback received and next steps. Please check back as this page will be updated with more information as this work continues.

Across north east London, CCGs have been working together to look at how to make sure that people, wherever they live, are able to have the same treatments and procedures. At the moment, this can be different from borough to borough, which isn’t fair for people and is confusing for people working in the NHS.

As part of this work, GPs have said that there are a number of procedures that they feel could benefit from clearly defined criteria so that they are clear about treatment options for their patients – things like which tests are best to carry out or which treatments or medicines to use first.

In order to do this in a consistent way across north east London, CCGs want to make changes to what is known as a commissioning policy. This lists all the treatments, procedures and interventions the NHS funds, and who is eligible to have them. They want to merge the different commissioning policies (currently there are different ones for Barking and Dagenham, Havering and Redbridge; City and Hackney; Newham; Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest) to create one. 

By doing this, it would mean that:

• all patients living in north east London would have access to the same type of care
• the care patients would receive would be in line with the latest clinical guidance
• hospitals and GPs would be clear about what policy to refer to, reducing confusion
• patients would not have treatments that don’t work or aren’t the best option for them.
• NHS funds would be spent paying for procedures that people need, and that would give them a better quality of life.

GPs from all the CCGs have been working together, looking at what currently happens in each commissioning policy, at clinical evidence and guidance and at work done by NHS England. They have also asked hospital consultants for advice. After lots of discussion, they have come up with what they think needs to change to create a new commissioning policy for north east London.

They now want to know what you think. 

Find out more

• Read our engagement document 
• Easy read engagement document
• Information for clinicians 
• Equality impact assessment 
• Quality impact assessment (41 pages)