Somerset General Practice Provider Board (SGPPB)
Somerset General Practice Provider Board (SGPPB): What is it and why do we need it?
What is the GPPB?
The GPPB was formally established in June 2020 and replaced the Somerset Primary Care Board.
Why do we need a GPPB?
The Somerset Health and Social Care System (HSCS) has moved to an Integrated Care System (ICS), with the Health element being coordinated by an Integrated Care Board (ICB, otherwise known as NHS Somerset). Unlike the CCG, the ICB is not a Primary Care led organisation. ICBs also have a more “blurred” commissioner/provider split and will not interact with practices as General Practice providers in the same way that the CCG did. The GPPB is a unified provider entity that brings together expertise from across Somerset General Practice (in all its forms) to create a single formal provider “voice” that can effectively represent the views of General Practice providers on the ICs and ICB. The ICB cannot liaise with 63 individual General Practice providers regarding such matters as service development and commissioning; The GPPB has therefore been established to fulfil this function.
Who is in the SGPPB?
There are 3 main “arms” to the GPPB: The LMC members providing “contractual and negotiating” input; The PCN CD members providing clinical input; The SPH members providing the “operational arm” of the GPPB.
There is, additionally, input from the Acute Trusts through their Directors of Primary Care, from the ICB as the commissioner of Primary Care, from the Out of Hours provider, and from the Somerset Training Hub (STH) to provide education and workforce expertise.
Who are the members of the SGPPB?
The “core membership” of the GPPB comprises 3 LMC representatives, 4 PCN CD Board members plus the CD Board Chair, 3 SPH Board members, 2 ICB members, 2 Trust Medical Directors, 1 OOH and 1 STH representative. There are also a number of co-opted members on the Board, providing expertise and experience and a balance between the different providers of and professionals working in General Practice. The current GPPB members can be found here
What are the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the Board?
The Operational Framework and ToR can be found here
What is an ICS?
The Somerset Integrated Care System (ICS) brings together all commissioners and providers of health and social care in the county. It comprises an Integrated Care Partnership (between Health and Social Care) or ICP, which will develop a long-term Population Health based strategy for the county, and will have a Strategic Commissioning function namely to commission all providers to deliver integrated health and care services based on a long-term contract (typically 10 years) with Population Based Outcomes (e.g. the number of patients with diabetes who have a limb amputation as a result of complications).
The Social Care elements of commissioning and provision will be co-ordinated through Somerset Council, and the Health elements will be co-ordinated through the ICB. NHS Somerset (the ICB) will commission services from all health providers in the county, but with providers also being part of the NHS Somerset Board and therefore involved in the commissioning decisions.
Why do we need an ICS?
It will bring together health and social care, and should allow providers to work collaboratively to improve patient care and optimise the cost effectiveness of care provision. It will also facilitate investment in preventative care and the shift of resources from secondary into primary and community care.
Where will General Practice fit into the ICS/ICB model?
Commissioners and other Providers in Somerset recognise the value of Primary Care to our System, how effective and cost effective it is, and the need for it to remain stable and to thrive. Moreover, there is an ambition to invest differentially in Primary Care, in the expectation that this will not only improve care but will also help to “balance the books” in the HSCS. Primary Care will be expected to support the remainder of the System to optimise care, but will be supported and funded to do so, and will share in the reinvestment of any resulting “savings”.
The GPPB will need to have substantial input into the ICS/ICP in order for this to become a reality, as the other providers (Trusts, County Council) are large, take a large share of the spend and have a strong unified voice in the ICS. The GPPB has been established to replicate this for General Practice.
How will the GPPB influence the ICS/ICB?
The fact that the GPPB is a unified “voice” for Primary Care helps the ICS and ICB to think of General Practice as an important part of the System, to accept its views, and make it easier to commission new services from it and fund it appropriately. The GPPB will exert influence by having representation on the ICP and ICB Boards, as well as the key “operational boards” in the HSCS. We hope that it will also develop additional support for General Practice, such as data services and coordinated resilience support, funded by the ICB.
What powers will the GPPB have?
The nature of General Practice means that, whilst the GPPB can represent the interest of practices as providers globally, it will not have the statutory power to compel individual practices to engage in the commissioning and provision decisions made by the ICS and ICB (which would be negotiated by the LMC once proposed). This is the same as the current situation, whereby the LMC is able to recommend (or reject) a Primary Care Service proposal, but cannot compel practices to follow its advice. With the GPPB operating successfully, however, the majority of practices should see the benefit of participating.
How will the SGPPB be funded?
The GPPB have agreed a source of recurrent funding from the ICB.
Dr Berge Balian
Chair, GPPB
Somerset GP Board minutes of meetings (you will need to be logged into this website to view this page)
