Written question asked by Mark Simmonds (Conservative) on Wednesday, 24 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 26 February 2010. It was answered by Mike O'Brien (Labour) on Wednesday, 3 March 2010 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Health Services

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what mechanisms are in place to assure the performance of (a) specialised commissioning groups and (b) the national commissioning group under the World Class Commissioning programme.

Answer: In 2009, a system for examining the skills and capabilities of specialised commissioners was developed, closely based on the primary care trust commissioning assurance process. This has been made available on a voluntary basis to strategic health authorities for them to assess specialised commissioning groups. The national specialised commissioning team is based within NHS London and could be assessed using the same system with some adaptations. The national specialised commissioning group is an advisory group reporting to Ministers on the commissioning of specialised services and the assurance process would not be suitable to assess its performance.Strategic health authorities also assure the performance of specialised commissioning groups on an ongoing basis as part of their management of the local national health service.

Secondary information