Home
Overview
| NB This website was archived on 1.11.2011, comments are now closed. The site will continue to be available until 31.3.2013 |
The Oldham Health Commission into Fairness took place in April 2011. A reflective sample of the population - 12 people with no previous experience of the NHS except as patients were brought together to hear evidence from a number of expert witnesses to help them answer the following questions:
- What would be the attributes of a ‘fair’ NHS in Oldham?
- How should commissioners go about fairly allocating resources across competing clinical priorities?
- What practical steps should commissioners take to ensure fairness in access and outcomes?
The Commission was sponsored by Commissioning for Oldham Group ('COG'), made up of all the GPs in Oldham. COG is working to become the GP Commissioning Consortium for the borough of Oldham.
The Commission was a collaborative effort between Oldham LINk and NHS Oldham.
Who's who?
The twelve Commissioners or jurors were recruited through community groups as a reflective sample of the Oldham population. We wanted people with an open mind, who had no previous experience of working for the NHS or as community leaders or as active LINk members.
They would reflect the oldham population ethnically and demographically. They would be gender balanced (we didn't quite manage that), and include people with long term conditions/disabilities as well as people in good health. Each District of Oldham would be represented, and where possible distinctive communities within those districts. A full membership list can be found here.
What's What?
The Commission met over 4 sessions in April 2011:
- Wed 6 April 5.30-8pm Pre-meet – getting to know you, project briefing and key skills
- Sat 9 April 9.30am-5pm Evidence day 1
- Sat 16 April 9.30am-5pm Evidence day 2
- Wed 20 April 5.30-8pm Postmeet – agreeing the report
The Wednesday evening sessions took place at the Phoenix Centre in Oldham town centre and the Saturday daytime sessions took place at Talking Point in Scouthead.
The format for the evidence sessions was 20 minutes evidence followed by 20 minutes questions and then 20 minutes debrief after 2 or 3 sessions.
Background
In July 2010, the Department of Health published the white paper Equity and excellence: Liberating the NHS. Amongst other things, this heralded plans to abolish Primary Care Trusts and hand over responsibility for most healthcare commissioning to new GP-led Consortia.
The Oldham GPs, as Commissioning for Oldham Group ('COG') began working up plans to develop into the GP Commissioning Consortia (GPCC) which, at the time of the Commission are being advanced as a pathfinder starting to take on responsibilities from the PCT.
From the beginning, COG has emphasised the importance of involving the public in their work at all stages and all levels. The GP's are especially mindful of: