Four trusts have partnered with GPs to enter the final stages of signing the first voluntary contract with NHS Dudley CCG.
The CCG launched the procurement process for the £5.4bn voluntary contract in June to create a ‘multispecialty community provider’ (MCP) from April 2018.
As the successful bidders, the local GPs and trusts will entering talks with the CCG and Dudley Council to discuss their vision for the MCP next month.
Four trusts have partnered with GPs to enter the final stages of signing the first voluntary contract with NHS Dudley CCG.
The CCG launched the procurement process for the £5.4bn voluntary contract in June to create a ‘multispecialty community provider’ (MCP) from April 2018.
As the successful bidders, the local GPs and trusts will entering talks with the CCG and Dudley Council to discuss their vision for the MCP next month.
These are the first to be awarded, after former Prime Minister David Cameron announced the new contracts in 2015, which were due to start this year but have faced delays.
Dudley's contract will see the new organisations providing a range of services including urgent and end of life care to more than 300,000 patients for 15 years.
Paul Maubach, chief executive officer for NHS Dudley CCG said: ‘We are delighted to have a viable bidder to start the dialogue process with.
‘This process will test out their ideas and see how well they match our vision for an organisation that will be able to deliver better integrated services designed to improve the lives of Dudley people.’
A statement from the CCG describes the partnership between the trusts and GPs as 'a consortium'.
A CCG spokesperson clarified to Healthcare Leader: 'The precise legal form of the consortium is yet to be agreed. However at this stage we understand this is a partnership arrangement between local NHS organisations and GPs.'
The Dudley MCP pilot currently includes all 46 GP practices that are members of NHS Dudley CCG but when the contract goes live, they can choose whether they want to 'fully' or 'partially' integrate with the MCP – the latter version enabling them to retain their current GMS/PMS contract.
The four trusts that will be involved in the talks include Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
This follows a GP federation in NHS Scarborough and Ryedale CCG partnering with a county council to bid for a voluntary contract worth £80.6m to take on community services.
