FINANCE: Northumberland Care Trust has delegated responsibility for £435m spending to a single emerging commissioning consortia, Northumberland Commissioning Group.

This includes most major contracts but excludes specialised services, prison healthcare, primary care contracts, reserves and PCT administration.

A board paper says the consortia will be provided with support by the PCT including, “practices and consortia boards [being] issued with budget and expenditure monitoring reports within 15 working days after the month end”.

If they appear to be failing they will have to present recovery plans and made subject to “special measures”. Overspends by consortia groups will be carried forward. The board paper says savings, “should be held at consortia level for the greater benefit of all patients” and “not be ring fenced at practice level or used for the specific purposes of reimbursing practice expenses”.

Source

Board paper

Source date

May 2011

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