Issue - meetings

To approve the Protocol between the Council, South Cheshire CCG, Eastern Cheshire CCG & NHS England for Health Overview and Scrutiny

The Committee was asked to consider approving the latest draft protocol between the Committee and the Boroughs Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS England. Previously there had been a protocol between the Scrutiny Committee and the Primary Care Trust (PCT). However since the PCT had been replaced by the CCGs a new protocol was needed. NHS England had been added to a previous draft of the protocol as they were now responsible for commissioning some aspects of primary care.

Representatives of the Eastern Cheshire CCG, Public Health Team and the Portfolio Holder made comments and suggested that in its current form the protocol did not adequately reflect the commissioning of NHS services. There were many other bodies who commissioned services, for example Public Health, that should also be included in the protocol. The protocol needed to clearly identify who was responsible for commissioning what so that the Committee could effectively hold the commissioners to account.

It was suggested that the Protocol could not be agreed by the Committee in its current form and needed to be reworded so that it accurately reflected the roles and responsibilities of all partners.

RESOLVED – That consideration of the protocol be deferred and re-drafted to take account of the comments summarised above and a revised protocol be brought back to this committee in due course for further consideration.