Primary care trusts (PCTs) have two key roles as commissioners: to drive up the quality of care as advocates for patients; and to drive efficiency and productivity as custodians for the taxpayer.
Our recent discussion paper, Commissioning in a cold climate, considered what commissioners need to do to prepare their health economies for the financial challenges now facing the NHS.
This paper focuses on commissioners' other key role: acting on behalf of the populations they serve to ensure local healthcare services are safe, effective and accessible and that quality of care in and patients’ experience of the NHS continues to improve.