News / CCG support extension proposed

30 August 2013

Login to access this content

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will be allowed to extend their service level agreements with commissioning support units (CSUs) by up to an extra 18 months, NHS England has said.

In a letter setting out the outcome of discussions with CCGs and other stakeholders over the past few months, NHS England said the overwhelming theme that emerged was concern over the timetable for formal procurement of commissioning support services.

Initially, SLAs have been limited to 18 months, but CCGs told NHS England that the need to renew or change commissioning support could take management time away from negotiations on the upcoming contracting round.

In the letter, NHS England national director for commissioning development Rosamond Roughton proposed that CCGs could extend their SLA with their commissioning support provider if they wished. However, the extension should not be greater than a further 18 months – taking the SLAs up to April 2016, the point at which CSUs are expected to become standalone bodies.

CCGs had indicated they would use the additional time to review their needs and renegotiate arrangements with their CSU.

Ms Roughton said: ‘I would ask that CCGs consider having these discussions with CSUs ahead of this year’s contracting round, so that CCGs and CSUs are on a more sustainable footing ahead of working together to drive quality and value improvements from providers.’

CCGs want to be more involved in CSU development, and NHS England intends to set out a package of support in the autumn to enable them do so, together with further information about a lead provider framework agreement for the procurement of commissioning support services.