NHS England has proposed that the commissioning functions of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) need to be absorbed into the newly developing integrated care systems (ICS) by April 2022, as part of its plans to “accelerate collaborative ways of working”.

This comes as part of a package of proposed changes to legislation designed to hand ICSs the direct commissioning power. It will result in a ‘single pot’ of funding which brings together current CCG commissioning budgets and primary care budgets, among other sources of funding.

Our President, Dr Patricia Wilkie, recently completed a paper for the Society of Apothecaries, which explores the history of the patient – from a case, to a person, to a partner.