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Dudley vanguard launches first procurement contract

Dudley vanguard launches first procurement contract
5 December 2016



NHS Dudley CCG has launched the procurement process for its multispecialty community provider (MCP) vanguard, making it the first area to do so.

The CCG has published a document outlining which services are to be commissioned for the area’s MCP that is set to provide primary and secondary care for more than 30,000 patients.

NHS Dudley CCG has launched the procurement process for its multispecialty community provider (MCP) vanguard, making it the first area to do so.

The CCG has published a document outlining which services are to be commissioned for the area’s MCP that is set to provide primary and secondary care for more than 30,000 patients.

MCP services to be procured under the new contract include taking over the commissioning of primary medical services from general practice.

The provider, which will become operational from 1 April 2018, will also take charge of the local improvement schemes that are currently commissioned by general practice, as well as GP prescribing.

According to the CCG’s July board papers, the MCP services will cost a total of £244m, including £25m for primary care contracts and £4.7m for primary care premises.

Other services that the MCP will take over include:

  • urgent care and primary care out of hours services
  • community based physical health services
  • adult social care
  • all CCG commissioned mental health services and learning disability services
  • emergency admissions from care homes

The MCP will also take over some activities currently carried out by the CCG including, financial management, service redesign and medicines management.

The document outlines the nature of the contract confirming that the MCP contract will be awarded to one entity, manage one whole-population budget and last for 15 years.

Dr Tim Horsburgh, secretary of Dudley LMC and clinical executive of primary care CCG, described the contract as “massive”.

He said that without a superpartnership or a federation in the area, the GPs are “very likely to sign a partial integration agreement with a combination of other providers to form an MCP structure”.

He also said that most of the GMS practices in the area “are likely to want to go through with the partially integrated agreement with a combination of providers to form an MCP structure.”

He added: “I think the MCP model potentially can be the way forward of how the NHS may structure itself in the future.

“We’ve spent an awful lot of resources in the acute sector care over the last 10-15 years – put the lion’s share of investment and development into secondary care and clearly that hasn’t resolved some of the issues with the elderly population increasing and the complex care that the elderly populations need.”

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