Hunt to intervene in local health disputes
Author: Kaye Wiggins, LGC |
The announcement came in the department’s response to a report by the communities and local government committee, which called for clarity on how local disputes should be resolved.
?If a health and wellbeing board believes that NHS England locally has not taken proper account of the relevant JSNAs [joint strategic needs assessments] and JHWSs [joint health and wellbeing strategies], it can raise this directly with NHS England, or ? in extreme circumstances ? it could escalate this to the secretary of state for health,? the document said.
It added that, if a health and wellbeing board believed a CCG had not taken proper account of the local strategies, it should report this to NHS England.
?The CCG must be able to justify any parts of their plans which are not consistent [with the locally-agreed strategy],? it said.
The report also said that, for the time being, a ban on councillors having a seat on CCG boards would stand.
This was because CCGs were ?intended to have a sharp clinical and professional focus?, it said, adding that councillors could ?influence decisions affecting the health service locally though membership of health and wellbeing boards?.
However, it added, the government was open to ?representations on the effect of [the ban] in practice?.
In its response the Department of Health also ruled out a bid by the committee for some parts of the gorvernment’s flagship work programme to be devolved to councils. The MPs had argued in their report that the measure would help local authorities to ?address at a more local level unemployment and, in turn, one reason why people may adopt unhealthy lifestyles?.
However, the DH response said the national programme was ?the correct one for the current circumstances?.
It said if a hypothetical ?future model of the work programme? were to devolve responsibility to councils, this would require clear evidence of the effectiveness and value for money of local programmes – and would be based on ?a clear payment by results model for local authorities?.
The government also gave a hesitant response to a call by the committee for an early announcement of councils’ future public health budgets. These should be finalised by October 2014, the MPs said.
However, the DH response warned that although it understood the value of early funding announcements, ?local authority allocations are just one of a set of complex and interrelated financial decisions the departments must take?.