CSSs will be required to be outside the NHS as "freestanding enterprises" and in a market of commissioning support for CCGs as "customers", by 2016 at the latest.
The government said it would not legislate for a minimum number of minutes that care workers had for visits, preferring instead to say that councils would have to consider a person's wellbeing when commissioning support for elderly and disabled people.
The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/10/179/prepub Thistudydy was funded by the London Development Centre, part of Commissioning Support for London (CSL).
However, Bob Ricketts, director of commissioning support services for NHS England, said that he was "delighted about the range of quality providers" that had been approved to supply the NHS with services.
Does buying commissioning support represent value for money for CCGs?
Our research highlighted a number of questions that need to be addressed: Does buying commissioning support represent value for money for CCGs?
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc has secured a five-year contract from Shell Canada Energy for front end engineering design, engineering, procurement, construction support, commissioning support and related services for the Jackpine Mine Tailings and Infrastructure Program in Canada.
He is keen to emphasise that NHS England is not rushing into a free market for commissioning support; rather it is taking a "managed approach" to ensure that every CCG and NHS England commissioner has access to decent support.
Recognising both the significant financial challenges facing the public sector and the steady emergence of a market for commissioning support, we have to be realistic and competitive if we are to grow sustainable support to the public sector.
NHS England wants all CCGs to have formally tendered for commissioning support by April of this year via its lead provider framework, but few are likely to comply despite threats of breaching procurement law.
