Understanding Practice Based Commissioning

Understanding Practice Based Commissioning
(Published March 2006)

Pharmaceutical companies need to understanding Practice Based Commissioning to ensure sales performance in 2006/7, recommends Cathy Alexander, Director of NHS Information at Health Direction

Looking at how practice based commissioning is being implemented across England, understanding the variations is crucial to maximising sales performance in 2006/07.

Cathy Alexander warns:
“Although Practice Based Commissioning PBC should be fully implemented by the end of 2006, Primary Care Trust (PCT) progress has been very variable. For example North Manchester PCT has only just arranged its first PBC event in February 2006 and has not made any progress towards creating their locality groups to date. On the other hand there are other PCTs like East Devon that are fully engaged with PBC and have already set indicative budgets for 9 out of 13 practices.

“East Devon’s budgets are based on their highest spend over the previous three years. The PCT has also set up mechanisms to provide practices with monthly budget statements as well as detailed secondary care activity data at patient level. This will allow the practices to benefit from the financial incentives of PBC, enabling them to redeploy half of any savings realised o reinvestment in patient services. The other 50 per cent will be retained by the PCT to cover overspends and further service development activities.

“Pharma companies should already be targeting those PCTs that are in advanced stages of rolling out PBC if they are not to lose crucial sales and relationship-building opportunities.”

Health Direction’s data suggests that most PCTs have now created locality groups for their practices. These locality groups or clusters range from 1 group for the whole PCT, to 5, 6 or even 8 clusters of practices.

Some of the different approaches to PBC can be seen below:

• South Sefton PCT – 1 consortium (all practices)
• 
  Durham and Chester le Street PCT - 1 consortium (all practices)
• 
  Southport and Formby PCT – 1 large group or possible 2 (Southport and Formby)
• 
  St Helens PCT – 2 consortia (North and South)
• 
  Birkenhead and Wallasey PCT – 4 groups
• 
  Darlington PCT – not formally agreed to take on but all practices signed up to work collaboratively to explore becoming part of a single cluster
• 
  North Bradford PCT – All 12 practices signed up to level 2
• 
  Langbaurgh PCT – 15/16 practices engaged covering 97% patients. Currently 5 groups, moving to 3 in 2006
• 
  Salford PCT - 8 Clusters that do not match the 4 current PCT localities

Cathy Alexander continues;
“With so many different approaches, new groups being set up at different rates, and uncertainty over the other structural changes currently proposed for PCTs and SHAs, the pharma industry may be tempted to adopt a "wait and see" approach, aiming to engage the new structures in 2007. However, smart pharma marketers will exploit these changes now as an opportunity to gain a crucial market advantage.”