A survey by the Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund has found that many GPs believe that new commissioning groups are an improvement on their predecessors; however, less than half said that the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) reflected their views.
The research also found that three times as many GPs think they can influence the work of their CCG than could influence their predecessors – i.e. Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). Key findings included:
• GPs have kept up their overall levels of involvement with CCGs compared to a similar survey carried out last year – 71% feel at least somewhat engaged. But the proportion saying they are ‘highly engaged’ fell from 19% to 12%.
• Less than four in ten GPs without a formal role thought decisions made by CCGs reflected the views of their membership, and just one in three felt the new groups were owned by their members. Meanwhile, only a minority of those GPs who did have a formal role thought they had enough support, time, and training to carry out their roles properly.
• An increasing number of GPs agreed that CCGs have a legitimate role to play in influencing their clinical practice including prescribing, referrals and the quality of the care they provide to patients.
• GPs were positive about how CCGs could change and improve general practice itself. Just over half felt that being part of a CCG had already improved their relations with other practices, and had changed the way they referred and prescribed. Although fewer felt that being part of the CCG had improved the overall quality of care they provide.
• Respondents felt CCGs were much more likely to listen to them than the PCTs which held the same role before the reforms. 40% said they could influence the work of the CCG, compared with only 13% who had felt the same about PCTs.
• GPs were more likely to rate CCGs as ‘very’ or ‘quite’ influential over their work (73%) than any other body, including NHS England. Meanwhile, just 13% felt that health and wellbeing boards, set up to oversee better joined-up care in the new system, were very or quite influential over their work at this stage.
