The NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England from 01 April 2013) (NHS CB) has recently published a document which supports the planning for Direct Commissioning responsibilities for 2013/14.

Download: Supporting planning for 2013/14 for Direct Commissioning

The guidance describes the processes that will be used to support planning for the next financial year. It aims to support the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS England from 01 April 2013)’s national, regional and area teams to ensure that every plan is as strong as it can be, by designing an approach that achieves national consistency and improves quality and equity of access to services. This should be in the context of local priorities and in conjunction with clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and local Health and Wellbeing Boards.

The guidance follows the publication of Everyone counts: planning for patients 2013-14 which outlined the incentives and levers that will be used to improve services from April 2013 – the first year of the new NHS, where improvements and outcomes are delivered through existing and new commissioning routes.