The NHS is currently undergoing a number of significant changes including the proposal to abolish Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) by April 2013 and the handover of commissioning responsibility to GPs. The Humber Cluster covers four commissioning organisations:
NHS Hull
NHS North Lincolnshire
NHS East Riding of Yorkshire
North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus
click on the names of the organisations above to visit their website
To help to take forward the transition from PCTs as the main commissioner of NHS services to the new arrangements and to ensure stability, the government has requested PCTs to ‘cluster’ together and the Humber Cluster consists of the four organisations above. Click this link to view further information about the establishment of the Humber Cluster and changes to the local NHS.
The Humber Cluster area
The Humber Cluster is a large and diverse geographical area of approximately 1,500 square miles which covers East Yorkshire, Northern Lincolnshire and the Humber Estuary. It includes rural farming areas, coastal areas, large towns such as Grimsby and Bridlington, market towns such as Brigg and Hedon and the city of Hull. The map below shows the Humber Cluster boundaries and the boundaries of the four organisations that make up the Humber Cluster.
The role of the Humber Cluster
The Humber Cluster will make sure that capacity and capability is maintained throughout the transition to the new commissioning arrangements. It has a single Chairman, Chief Executive and Executive Team in a form that is sustainable until April 2013. The Humber Cluster Board is a Joint Board of the four Humber organisation's Boards.
The combined health care budget for the Humber Cluster amounts to £1.48 billion and covers a population of 941,000 people that reside in the Humber area.
Why cluster? Proposed changes to the NHS
In July 2010, the Coalition Government published a White Paper called Equity and Excellence - Liberating the NHS. The White Paper suggested major changes to the NHS including abolishment of Primary Care Trusts and passing power to commission (buy) NHS services to GPs. It also promised to look at making public involvement better and to provide local services that meet the needs of local people.
A Health and Social Care Bill was introduced into Parliament in January 2011. The Bill will take forward the suggestions in the White Paper and make them law. As well as creating GP consortia, the Bill establishes several other new bodies including:
NHS Commissioning Board: responsible for securing the provision of health services and regulating commissioning consortia.
Healthwatch England: responsible for providing advice on the views of local organisations and service users.
The Health and Social Care Information Centre: responsible for publishing and assessing the quality of information produced by health and social care bodies.
Public Health England: responsible for public health.