Four networks of commissioning support units will provide communications services to clinical commissioning groups, officials have confirmed.

The NHS Commissioning Board has announced that, as previously reported by HSJ, a set of regional “collaboratives” of CSUs will be established to provide specialist or strategic communications support.

Individual CSUs will still be able to provide local communications support to CCGs, but will have to be part of a larger network. Each collaborative will have a lead CSU.

The four collaboratives are:

  • North of England (Lead CSU: West Yorkshire)
  • Midlands and East: (Lead CSU: Birmingham, Black Country and Solihull CSU)
  • London: (Lead CSU: North West London CSU)
  • South of England: (Lead CSU: Commissioning Support South CSU)

Proposals for how communications services would be supplied were submitted in July and assessed by the board. Business cases will be evaluated as part of the board’s CSU assurance process.

One or more of the networks could also be brought in to provide communications support to the commissioning board.

The networks were developed after plans for a single communications service were scrapped.

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