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The Health and Social Care Act 2012 has now received Royal Assent.  Building on the proposals set out in the Government's 2010 healthcare White Paper Equity and Excellence:Liberating the NHS, it requires the establishment of new corporate bodies to be known as Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

Although CCGs will not be able to provide services themselves, there will also be opportunities for GPs as providers of services in the new healthcare landscape.  The White Paper was clear that individual practices or groups of practices should have the opportunity to provide new services (over and above the services that they already have a duty to provide), where this will provide best value in terms of quality and cost.  Further guidance on this is awaited.

One of the ways to maximise opportunities to provide new services will be to team up with other GP practices to form provider companies. This can bring the following advantages:

• Practices can share expertise, putting them in a better position to win contracts and generate new income streams.
• Practices can share resources and costs, potentially leading to cost savings and reductions in overall tax liability.
• For individual GPs it can allow for a focus on specialism, improved professional development and training opportunities and exit/retirement strategies.

How we can help GPs to set up provider companies

Options appraisals – assessing different types of corporate structure to ensure you pick the right model.

Social enterprise – setting up an organisation that operates for the benefits of staff, patients and the community.

Workforce – employing staff, complying with TUPE and managing the transfer of staff from one organisation to another.

NHS Pensions – ensuring access to the NHS Pension Scheme.

Regulatory compliance –compliance with the requirements of regulators, including the Care Quality Commission, Monitor and the Co-operation and Competition Panel.

Contracting – GMS, PMS and APMS arrangements and using the standard Community Health Services contract.

Collaboration and competition – how to manage risks under competition law when collaborating with other organisations.

Bidding for new contracts – managing tender processes and procurement law.

Estates – managing your estate to the best effect.

Intellectual property – protecting and exploiting IP.

Governance arrangements - internal governance arrangements for consortia including criteria for membership and arrangements with member practices.

Conflicts of interest - managing conflicts of interest between commissioner and provider roles.

Contracting - contracting arrangements with the NHS Commissioning Board, CCGs and local authorities and joint working and collaboration arrangements with other providers.