Public health contracts worth £5million to go to council

9:00am Tuesday 19th February 2013 in News By Bill Tanner

THIRTY-five public health service contracts worth £5 million are to transfer from the county’s primary care trust (PCT) to Herefordshire Council by April.

The council expects a ringfenced grant of around £6.5m over the current financial year to help cover the contracts coming its way through last year’s Health and Social Care Act.

Some 35 contracts totalling around £5m – ranging in value from a few thousand pounds to £1.5m – are being transferred, most of which cover mandatory services.

They include:

  • Sexual health services – including access to contraception and STI diagnosis and treatment. The value of these is in the region of £1.5m.
  • Drugs and alcohol services – from acute services with a value in the region of £1.3m to community based services and information services valued between £10,000 to £20,000.
  • NHS Health Checks – a programme with a broad scope of individual services which total around £550,000.

Current contracts will be maintained in the first instance for 2013/14, to minimise the risks to – or destabilisation of – services and providers during the transition.

But contracts will be reprocured beyond the coming financial year where savings opportunities or other perceived benefits are identified.

Public health staff have already re-located from the PCT base at Belmont to Hereford Town Hall with a move to the so-called public service hub at Plough Lane forecast for next year.

More details on the transfer are due before the council’s cabinet next month.

Comments(12)

TwoWheelsGood says...
10:17am Tue 19 Feb 13

It wasn't so long ago the PCT arrangement with the Council was being hailed as 'World Class Commissioning' by CEO Chris Bull (remember him?), but then he would say that wouldn't he, as his salary was world sized to match. New branding, new staff, new offices, always the promise of savings - now it seems its all being dismantled - or 'reorganised', because that’s all middle management can do, endlessly reorganise, rebrand, promote each other upwards and generally avoid achieving much of any worth, yet still the promise of savings. The gravy train keeps a rolling.

Report this post »

fmrbill says...
12:59pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Oh bloody hell I dont believe it, now not only are we doomed we will all be bloody dead soon if Jarvis is in charge of the extra money for my health, no doubt he/they (councillors)will squander it, like they do with my council tax on more meeting more bottled water. Jarvis one question I want out of your council tax, how can I go about it with out being set to jail for non payment

Report this post »

fordshire77 says...
2:21pm Tue 19 Feb 13

well at a guess all those services will be cut! Then it will be…hey presto we just saved £5m aren’t we the great council, it will be "Here we can... save you money!"

Report this post »

Ubique5740 says...
4:12pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Please explain O wise Posters why is the contract worth £5million and the Council have ring fenced £ 6.5 million to help cover the contracts coming its way.
Suggests to me that we are forking out an extra £1.5 million.
Hope I am wrong.

Report this post »

tenor12 says...
6:20pm Tue 19 Feb 13

I only comment when i fall out of my rocking chair , the dog falls off my lap shivering with the cold. He has a bad leg due to falling in a pothole . This has got to be a wind-up ? not content with killing off Hereford, Doctor Jarvis Shipman has his syringe full of morphine ready to kill off whats left of any public health we had . Back on the fags and 10 pints of peabodies trouser trembler everynight as we are all doomed . Live long and fester

Report this post »

littlewhitebull says...
6:42pm Tue 19 Feb 13

And the good news keeps on coming! Just heard on the radio that we might have a triple dip recession. Pay more for less, work more for less. Gas and electricity price rises predicted - wow.
Just off to eat my beefburgers - hoping to win the 2.30 race at Haydock Park tomorrow.

Report this post »

TwoWheelsGood says...
8:06pm Tue 19 Feb 13

Ubique5740 - it seems the Council are getting a ring fenced grant of £6.5m from government, to administer contracts worth £5m ie they will have £1.5m left over to divvy up between themselves for a job well done. Heaven forfend the Council actually contribute anything, but rest assured, the PR machine will be making out the exact opposite.

Report this post »

Ubique5740 says...
8:19pm Tue 19 Feb 13

TWG, thanks for update, hope that it does not end in tears.
Will be interesting to read the Council publicity in due course.

Report this post »

WYSIATI says...
8:16am Wed 20 Feb 13

I thought that this has happened because of the Government's policy decision to do it - no choices, no local say. Whether it's a good idea is another question.

Hereford was at the forefront of integration with the NHS - which I think was a policy decision by another Govt. The new Govt changed the ground rules and policies - so Hereford had no choice but to undo what had been done and put in place a new system.

Right or wrong there is no doubt that all the rearrangements cost time and money. I think the PCT being disbanded flows from moving commissioning for health to GPs - or more likely private companies because GPs have a job to do and are not administrators.

It's quite possible (likely) that the story is not all there - good headlines and good chance for a bit about feather bedding overpaid staff but it might be that there are some costs associated with both moving a whole organisation across and also with paying the staff who do the work.

Let's hope it works - completely changing the basis for running the NHS is a big scale experiment that I can't remember being asked for vote for and this is one side effect

Report this post »

dippyhippy says...
10:56am Wed 20 Feb 13

Why do this council think they can meddle with this? They have no grasp on things they should be doing,and yet now are taking on something which has never before fallen within their remit.They need to concentrate their efforts on what they SHOULD be doing.I am sure I am not alone in being very disturbed to read that a fellow posters dog has been injured due to falling in a pot hole - send the vet bill to Jarvis!!Just out of interest,was it a sausage dog sized pot hole.or a great dane sized pot hole.....I sense a front page story...."Pet pooch pole-axed by pothole"......

Report this post »

silentbull says...
9:02pm Wed 20 Feb 13

We've all heard of the Bermuda triangle where ships and planes disappear where even the name would turn a grown man white with fear and give him shivers!!!!
Well' I've seen over the past couple of weeks on Hereford times web site something which should give people the same fear and give them nightmares for a long time to come.......

The disappearance of the Hereford times comments !!!!!!!

Call Mulder & Scully

Report this post »

dippyhippy says...
9:00am Thu 21 Feb 13

Silentbull, you're right,its downright spooky.Anything contentious is removed without a trace.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree