Today Paul Burstow, Care Services Minister, has announced that responsibility for commissioning health services for children and young people in secure Children’s homes and secure training centres is to pass to the NHS. Until now each secure home or centre has commissioned its own health services.

At first glance this makes practical sense. The NHS has had this role for young offender institutions and prisons since 2006. Claims that this will help ensure consistency between each establishment, and continuity of care once the individual leave the secure establishment, seem plausible.

But where precisely within the NHS will this responsibility sit, and for how long? Will it rest with soon-to-be-abolished PCTs or SHAs? Will it then pass to soon-to-be-established GP consortia, or the National Commissioning Board?

There is great uncertainty about the future of health commissioning generally due to the lack of detail in the Health and Social Care Bill, and exacerbated by recent political friction which casts doubt of how much of the bill will survive into law. The practical implementation of today’s announcement will be watched closely for clues as to the future.

Posted by Chris Webb-Jenkins, who specialises in defending claims against education and care providers and their insurers; risk management, stress, information management and child protection issues.

Chris Webb-Jenkins
0115 976 6175
cwebb-jenkins@brownejacobson.com