24.03.14
CCGs struggling to fulfil Francis recommendations
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) need greater resources and an enhanced role if they are to fulfil recommendations proposed by the Francis report, the British Medical Association (BMA) has stated.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA GPs committee chair, told the 'One Year On From Francis' conference at the King’s Fund in London that, although a lot of the recommendations focused on targets in the hospital environment, there were many for commissioners and GPs.
These include a “need for GPs to undertake a monitoring role on behalf of their patients receiving acute hospital and other specialist services”.
The Francis Report has proposed that CCGs apply a safety and quality standard to services they commission and seek redress for individual patients receiving substandard treatment.
However, Dr Nagpaul told delegates that, in terms of being assured about what happened to patients while in hospitals, CCGs were “struggling”.
“Mid Staffordshire Hospital, this was never part of their original remit,” he said. “There needs to be some greater expansion of the role for commissioners.”
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