The NHS Commissioning Board has indicated that health service leaders have only a “narrow window” to begin reconfiguration projects in their area as they can only count on political support until the end of 2013.
Chief executive Sir David Nicholson was speaking last week at a meeting of senior figures of primary care trust clusters, strategic health authorities and the board’s local area teams.
Sir David told those present that structural change should not be used as an excuse to delay service changes. The NHS, he said, had a “narrow window” to set reconfiguration projects in motion.
He said in 2013 ministers would back clinically justified reconfigurations in 2013.
However, the board believes they will be reluctant to publicly defend or explain reconfigurations after the end of 2013, due to the expected general election in 2015.
One local area team leader told HSJ: “We can’t expect them to muddy their hands with our problems up to the election.”
Another senior regional NHS figure said: “I wish I could be as optimistic as Sir David. We’re already having conversations with MPs about our plans, and they just state political positions back at us.”
He was also concerned that many reconfigurations took two years to plan and enact, meaning that few started next year would be completed during the 2013 window.
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