NHS Standard Contract consultation: A briefing for PCN clinical directors
The NHS Standard Contract is the vehicle through which commissioners contract with NHS providers for delivery of services. This explainer is for PCN clinical directors.
What is the NHS Standard Contract?
The NHS Standard Contract is the vehicle through which commissioners contract with NHS providers for delivery of services. It does not cover general practice/primary care.
How does the consultation relate to PCNs?
The new Standard Contract recognises that some of the PCN service specifications will need to be delivered by multidisciplinary teams from both general practice and community providers. As such, it reinforces the notion that providers should act as equal partners when it comes to delivery of the PCN service specifications (the details of which are yet to be finalised).
Specifically, there are two ways in which providers will be required to support PCNs under the new Contract:
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Supporting PCNs to deliver Anticipatory Care and Enhanced Health in Care Homes |
New requirements for relevant providers of community health services (including community mental health services) to work with PCNs in implementing new national service models for Anticipatory Care and Enhanced Health in Care Homes, subject to agreement of the service specifications. |
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Alignment of community mental health services with PCNs |
Move towards new integrated primary and community mental health services in all STPs/ICSs from April 2021, as set out in the NHS Mental Health Implementation Plan 2019/20 – 2023/24 and the Community Mental Health Framework. To support this, NHS England and NHS Improvement is proposing to ask all providers of community mental health services for adults and older adults to put in place arrangements with all PCNs within their footprints, by March 2021, to organise and begin delivering services in an integrated manner. |
Overall, the PCN Network believes these changes to the NHS Standard Contract should be helpful for Clinical Directors (CDs) and others working in PCNs, helping to ensure that community and mental health providers align themselves with their local PCNs and creating a contractual obligation for the specifications to be delivered effectively.
However, CDs may wish to assess how changes to the Standard Contract may affect service delivery and relationships with providers in their areas. Some questions that CDs may wish to keep in mind as they review the proposed Contract for 2020/21 are:
- Do the requirements on providers go far enough to ensure they have ‘skin in the game’ when it comes to PCNs?
- What do PCNs really need from providers and how prescriptive should national guidelines be?
- The Contract obliges community mental health providers to align with PCNs, yet there is no reference to mental health in the draft service specifications. How does NHS England and NHS Improvement expect community mental health services to work in tandem with PCNs?
- If the Contract ultimately aims to promote collaborative behaviour from providers then is a legal framework the best way to do so?
How can clinical directors have a say?
NHS England and NHS Improvement is consulting on the draft Standard Contract for 2020/21 until the end of this week (31 January). The full copy of the Contract, as well as technical guidance on the Contract, can be found online.
Comments and feedback can be submitted through NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Consultation Hub. CDs should note that these comments can be as detailed or as brief as they wish, relating to the Contract as a whole or individual elements of it.
The PCN Network is also able to assist CDs with their responses. If you would like to know more then please get in touch through the contact details below.
Further information
If you have any questions about the NHS Standard Contract or would like to find out more about the PCN Network then please contact us at PCNnetwork@nhsconfed.org
Further information about the PCN Network can also be found through our website.
