Below are the 54 GP Pathfinder consortia who are apparently leading the way in GP commissioning. The plan is that GP consortia will eventially manage £80 billion of NHS funds, which seems an awful lot. So it’s important to keep them on their toes. Ask to see the published minutes of all their meetings and accounts for how the money is being spent. You may, rather depressingly, have to file a Freedom of Information request to get them. Let me know how you get on.

East of England:

CATCH (Cambridgeshire)

East Suffolk Federation

Fortis Group

Health East CIC, Great Yarmouth and Waveney

Hunts Health

Ipscom (Ipswich)

The Red House Group Hertfordshire

East Midlands:

Principia

Bassetlaw Commissioning organisation

Nene Community Interest Company

London:

Bexley Clinical Cabinet

Ealing Commissioning Consortia

Great West Commissioning Consortium

Kingston Consortium

Newham Health Partnership

Redbridge

Southwark Health Commissioning

The Sutton Consortium

North East:

Newcastle Bridges GP consortia

Langbaurgh

County Durham

North West:

Cumbria Senate

Salford PBC Consortium

Stockport Managed Care

Manchester (three consortia: north, central and south)

West Cheshire Consortium

Wirral GP Consortium

Eastern Cheshire Commissioning Consortium

Trafford Commissioning Consortium

Fleetwood Community Commissioning Group

Wirral NHS Alliance

South Central:

Buckinghamshire

South East Hampshire

Bracknell Forest

South

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Buying Silence with Public Money

Should the concerns of whistle-blowing NHS staff who’ve signed silencing deals with their employers now be made public? In 2008, a staff survey by the Healthcare Commission found that Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust (LWNFT) had the second highest national rate for bullying of clinical staff by management, with a high percentage of staff wishing to leave their jobs. In 2009, after a long freedom of information battle, it was revealed that the Trust had signed twelve silencing deals (or ‘compromise agreements’) with staff over ten years, at a cost of £392,000. All contained gag clauses preventing the staff from going public with any concerns they may have had about medical care or mismanagement.

The agreements were drafted and negotiated by Liverpool solicitors, Mace & Jones. Since 2006, the Chairman of Mace & Jones has been Roy Morris, who has also been a non executive director of the Liverpool Women’s trust since 2005. He denies any conflict of interest. Mace & Jones were instructed by the Trust to ensure that any names of silenced employees are not revealed under information law, a view challenged in a recent Information Tribunal hearing1.

The trial heard evidence

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Failing Children (again and again)

Sir Al Aynsley-Green, Professor Emeritus of Child Health at University College London and former National Clinical Director for Children and Children’s Commissioner for England, has written to the Eye to expose the continued neglect of children in the NHS: ‘We have failed, are still failing and are likely to continue failing far too many children and young people through inadequate health services’.

‘Ten years ago, the Bristol Inquiry was cataclysmic in its condemnations (1), saying that children had been the ‘Cinderella’ service in the NHS for far too long. Lord Laming’s equally devastating conclusions followed from his Inquiry into child protection triggered by the murder of Victoria Climbie (2). Both uncovered the care of children being subordinated to the demands of adult services; lack of concern for vulnerable individuals; failure to protect children’s rights; quality of care less than it should be; failure of communication, effective planning and partnerships with professionals and parents, and lack of responsibility for children with ineffective leadership.’

‘Even before the financial crisis, the UK ranked bottom of the 21 richest countries for the well being of children. (3,4) Sir Michael Marmot’s recent review (5) on health inequalities documents highlighted

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