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NHS Local

The Secretary of State’s speech to the NHS Confederation conference on 18 June 2008 and the Next Stage Review report published on 30 June 2008 signalled that Primary Care Trusts have the freedom to re-name to NHS Local.  In simple terms, this means that PCT organisations (including Teaching PCTs) could adopt the NHS prefix before their place name.  For example, Blackpool PCT will become known as NHS Blackpool and Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT will become known as NHS Bournemouth and Poole (rather than NHS Bournemouth and Poole Teaching).    

This is an important issue that was raised by PCTs during the course of various World Class Commissioning (WCC) engagement sessions across the NHS. PCTs and others questioned whether the PCT name adequately reflects their existing duties and roles, especially in relation to funding NHS care for their resident population. 

Rationale

World Class Commissioning sets out a new approach to commissioning for health and care services.  The re-naming of PCTs to NHS Local will allow PCTs to position themselves as front-line commissioners of patient care and be identifiable to their local populations as such.  This is integral to the objectives of World Class Commissioning and particularly, competency 1, that PCTs should be recognised as the local leader of the NHS. 

In addition, the following reasons support the case for change:

• PCTs are now responsible for the vast majority of NHS expenditure in their local areas and, as such, their title should convey that they are a major NHS presence in any given locality;
• Working closely with partners in local authorities and elsewhere, NHS Local would add further power to localism and the importance of ‘place’ and community;
• For members of the public and patients, NHS Local, potentially gives stronger recognition of local NHS commissioners and is less confusing than their current title which is not well understood;
• In some respects, the title of PCT does not adequately or sufficiently reflect the role and responsibilities of the PCT itself – especially the commissioning role and;
• Increasingly, commissioning organisations promote patient choice and ensure that a variety of providers have the opportunity to provide NHS funded care. In this light, NHS Local enables members of the public and patients to better identify with the NHS as a commissioner and payer of services and;
• For legal purposes, PCTs and Teaching PCTs will maintain their name in legislation and discreetly on stationery and other documents, for example, as Oxfordshire PCT or Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT. 

Care Trusts will remain unaffected by the change. 

All PCTs will now have the freedom to choose to rename to NHS Local.  This does mean that in the case of Teaching PCTs, these organisations would drop ‘Teaching’ from their logos (where this appears), but would still refer to their full name in legislation (e.g Bournemouth and Poole Teaching PCT) discreetly on stationery and other documents.  This does not in anyway change the status of the PCT.  It merely serves to strengthen their identity as the local leader of the NHS and the fact that they, in line with all other PCTs, the front-line commissioners of patient care.

Guidance on re-naming

The guidance on how PCTs can rebrand their commissioning arm to NHS Local is available on the NHS Brand website and new NHS logotypes can also be ordered from the site.

Timing

We do not expect any re-branding or re-positioning to add unnecessary expenditure.  In order to keep costs to a minimum, we would advise that PCTs make the transition to the new identity when it is practically and economically feasible to do so by exhausting existing supplies of stationery and updating property signage etc. through planned replacement programmes. 

• NHS Brand website (opens new window)