Exclusive: London cluster to consult on 'ambitious' reconfiguration plans

McKinsey was appointed earlier this month to the project in London’s largest primary care trust cluster, which is due to spend £2.9bn this year. The consultancy firm is to complete the “North West London service reconfiguration pre-consultation preparation” exercise.

McKinsey will develop “options for acute service configuration but also options for different models of community, mental health and primary care”, and draw together other work being done in the sector.

It has already been appointed to four other projects in north west London. McKinsey has been asked by the cluster to examine the configuration of services between Imperial College Healthcare Trust and West Middlesex University Hospital Trust, and complete two integrated care pilots in inner and outer north west London. It has also been appointed by Ealing and North West London Hospitals trusts to look at their proposed merger.

According to the tender document for the new exercise, McKinsey will have to take account of other ongoing projects including “the establishment of an integrated care system based around ICHT and Chelsea and Westminster Foundation Trust”, “further development of out-of-hospital strategies for each of the boroughs” and “work to refresh [the] NWL commissioning plan including the refreshed case for change”.

The brief, seen by HSJ, said the cluster planned to start a three-month consultation on the plan in June 2012.

It said the cluster “has an ambitious agenda to improve healthcare delivery during the coming five years and hand over a high quality and sustainable acute care landscape to clinical commissioning groups“.

NHS North West London is made up of Ealing, Hounslow, Hillingdon, Brent, Harrow, Chelsea and Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham and Westminster primary care trusts.

NHS North West London would not confirm how much it was spending with the firm for this project, or in total.