THE latest reorganisation of the NHS comes into effect on April 1 – placing Dorset GPs in charge of spending the county’s £900 million annual healthcare budget.

But the chairman of the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group, West Dorset GP Dr Forbes Watson, thinks patients are unlikely to notice any difference in the short term.

“I think we’re as ready as we can be. We’re fortunate that we have inherited a good legacy. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it’s certainly a good starting point. We have a very good and strong health community,” he said.

In the lead-up to the changeover, the county’s two primary care trusts, Bournemouth and Poole PCT and Dorset PCT, became one, as did the two shadow commissioning consortia.

The single commissioning group that has emerged from that process will be the second largest in England in terms of the population it serves – 750,000.

It decided to keep its management support in-house rather than contracting it out, which means many employees of the PCTs will be among the 250 staff working on commissioning.

“We’ve got people on board that we didn’t want to lose. The final figures are not available, but we’re talking about tens of redundancies rather than hundreds,” said Dr Watson.

The main change is that family doctors will, for the first time, be in charge of deciding how NHS money should be allocated to benefit local patients, buying services from private and NHS providers.

Clinical Commissioning Group

Every one of Dorset’s 101 GP practices is a member of the CCG and one of its 13 localities – Bournemouth and Poole – have six and the rest of the county seven.

Each of the localities has a population of between 50,000 and 70,000 and its own GP chairman, deputy and management support. The chairmen sit on the governing body, or board, of the CCG.

As well as the GPs, the board includes a nurse representative and secondary care (hospital) doctor, both of whom are from outside the area to avoid any conflict of interest.

There are also two lay members, including retired Dorset County Council chief executive David Jenkins, pictured, who will be championing patient and public involvement.

“I think patients aren’t going to notice any immediate significant change,” said Dr Watson. “What they will be increasingly aware of is not only clinicians representing organisations but also being involved in decisions that have been made.

“We want our GPs to feel they have a stake in what we’re doing. We want our patients to see a seamless continuation of a good service, and that any changes to that will be an improvement.

“Our aim is supporting people in Dorset to lead healthier lives. Services will be designed around patients, so the focus will be on services rather than buildings.”

That is likely to mean continuing the PCTs’ work towards providing more services closer to people’s homes, reducing avoidable emergency admissions to hospitals and preventable deaths.

The CCG will be working closely with local authorities, which not only run social services but will also be taking on the PCTs’ role in promoting public health.