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Commissioning of Services
What is commissioning?
The reform of public services is at the forefront of the Government’s domestic policy agenda. The aim is to improve the quality and range of public services that are framed around national minimum standards whilst reflecting local needs through joint strategic planning and commissioning. The key to success will be effective partnerships led by local government and NHS working to provide better solutions and outcomes in health and social care. Central to this is the recognition of the role of the third sector can play in developing greater choice of provider – not to replace, but to improve services.
Commissioning is about enhancing the quality of life of service users and their carers by:
- having the vision and commitment to improve services
- connecting with the needs and aspirations of users and carers
- making the best use of all available resources
- understanding demand and supply
- linking financial planning and service planning
- making relationships and working in partnership
A definition of commissioning from the Audit Commission’s implementation guidance for Every Child Matters, 'Making Ends Meet', published in October 2003 is:
“The process of specifying, securing and monitoring services to meet people’s needs at a strategic level. This applies to all services, whether they are provided by the local authority, NHS, other public agencies, or by the private and voluntary sectors.”
The Government’s intention to make the sector’s involvement a practical reality is borne out by government policies and guidance which have a strong common theme – a commitment to involve the sector in the planning and delivery of public services as part of an integrated approach to the commissioning of services alongside the NHS and Local Authorities. This is in terms of the valuable contribution voluntary and community groups can give in the development of services, from the user perspective, in their role as advocates and campaigners, as much as their ability to deliver services.
Commissioning in Herefordshire
Herefordshire Public Services is an initiative designed to help improve how Herefordshire Council and Primary Care Trust and Herefordshire Council commission (plan and purchase) a wide range of local public services. The two organisations are now jointly managed (although remaining separate legal entities with different levels of accountability) under a single Chief Executive, Chris Bull.
Head of Integrated Commissioning, Ian Williams, will lead a newly formed unit undertaking the planning, design and procurement of services.