EmailOn 8 December, the Department of Health announced the names of the first 52 'pathfinder' consortia (full list below). They cover 1,860 GP practices serving 12.8m patients.
The consortia come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some cover existing primary trust areas including Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Some are companies, including Baywide in Torbay and Sentinel Healthcare Southwest Community Interest Company in Plymouth.
Consortia sizes range from the County Durham consortia, which includes 90 GP practices, to the Fleetwood Community Commissioning Group in Lancashire, covering just three.
"The majority of consortia are not reflecting existing PCTs," said a Department of Health spokesperson. "A range of pathfinder models and areas of focus are emerging."
"We want to create an NHS that puts patients at the heart of everything it does and is focused on achieving health outcomes that are amongst the best in the world," said health secretary Andrew Lansley.
"Already leading the way and making this happen are the GPs selected to be pathfinders. I am delighted by the response and the evident enthusiasm for taking these ideas forward. They have demonstrated an enthusiasm and excitement for change and shown that there are many GPs ready and willing to take on commissioning responsibilities, so they can make the decisions that better meet the needs of their local communities and improve outcomes for their patients."
For a map of the consortia, plus analysis and a sortable version of the table, click here
List of the 52 first GP commissioning consortia
East of England
Cambridgeshire Association To Commission Health (CATCH)
East Suffolk Federation, Ipswich)
Fortis Group, Southend
HealthEast CIC, Great Yarmouth and Waveney
Hunts Health, Huntington)
Ipscom, Ipswich
The Red House Group, Hertfordshire
East Midlands
Principia, Nottinghamshire borough of Rushcliffe
Bassetlaw Commissioning Organisation, North Nottinghamshire
Nene Commissioning Community Interest Company, County of Northamptonshire with the exception of Corby
London
Bexley Clinical Cabinet
Ealing Commissioning Consortium (ECC)
Great West Commissioning Consortium, Hounslow
Kingston Consortium
Newham Health Partnership
Redbridge
Southwark Health Commissioning (SHC)
The Sutton Consortium
North East
Newcastle Bridges GP Commissioning Consortia
Langbaurgh, Redcar and Cleveland
County Durham
North West
Cumbria Senate
Salford PBC Consortium
Stockport Managed Care
Manchester (Three consortia: North, Central and South)
West Cheshire Health Consortium
Wirral GP Commissioning Consortium
Eastern Cheshire Commissioning Consortium (ECCC)
Trafford Commissioning Consortium (TCC)
Fleetwood Community Commissioning Group
Wirral NHS Alliance
South Central
Basingstoke
Bracknell Forest
Buckinghamshire
Oxfordshire
South East Hampshire
South Reading
South East Coast
North West Sussex Association of Commissioning Consortia
Coastal West Sussex Federation
Surrey Heath
Thames Medical, North West Surrey
Guildford and Waverley
Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley
South West
Baywide GPCC Limited, Torbay
Sentinel Healthcare Southwest Community Interest Company, Plymouth
WyvernHealth.com, Somerset
South Glos Consortium Ltd
West Midlands
South Birmingham Integrated Clinical Commissioning Consortium
Dudley GP Commissioning Consortium
Herefordshire GP Commissioning Consortium
Yorkshire and Humber
Doncaster Commissioning Consortium
North East Lincolnshire Commissioning Consortium
Source: Department of Health. Further details from DoH website
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