Strategic commissioning
Supporting integrated care board leaders with strategic commissioning.
The role of ICBs has changed. The cuts to running and programme costs, the Model ICB blueprint, and the Ten-Year Health Plan have all signalled a shift towards a new type of ICB that is leaner, more analytical, and uses its levers to manage markets and neighbourhood health delivery.
Our Pioneers of Reform report outlined the sector’s vision for strategic commissioning: a process that involves better understanding populations, working collaboratively, contracting innovatively, and transforming care for improved outcomes.
We know our members are eager to seize this new opportunity but need support to build the skills and capabilities they will need to become strategic commissioners.
The strategic commissioning cycle
Resources
Below you will find a range of resources to equip to move forward with strategic commissioning.
We have also listed forums and groups that will help you turn policy rhetoric into operational reality.
Practical support
Strategic Commissioning Forum
Chaired by David Freeman, Chief Officer for Commissioning and Place, Bath, North East Somerset and Wiltshire ICB, Dorset ICB and Somerset ICB cluster, the forum brings together directors of commissioning, strategy, and population health from across the health and care landscape to move towards this new vision of commissioning.
A six-weekly forum that explores key topics across the strategic commissioning cycle, with a focus on sharing best practice, innovative approaches and practical learning from across the health and care system. Each session focuses on a different stage of the Strategic Commissioning Framework:
1 October - This session will focus on pathway change and transformation, exploring how commissioners can redesign pathways of care, make effective use of delegated commissioning arrangements, and support improvement and transformation across health and care services.
26 October - This session will focus on monitoring, evaluation and learning, exploring how commissioners can apply evaluation methodologies and impact measures, identify unwarranted variation, meaningfully engage patients and communities, and use insights to inform contracting decisions and service transformation.
14 December - This session will focus on value optimisation, exploring how commissioners can develop and implement improvement programmes, make informed decisions on service reconfiguration and decommissioning, and work with providers to drive quality and value in the absence of direct performance management responsibilities.
The forum provides a space for peer learning, challenge and strategic discussion, supporting ICB leaders as they navigate their commissioning responsibilities and drive transformation.
Sign up for the Strategic Commissioning Forum.
We are here to support you through the current changes, and are always looking to hear your views on how we can best do this. Please contact Ian Perrin if you have views on how we could be best supporting you.