The new NHS Commissioning Board, which is at the heart of the government's controversial NHS reforms in England, is due to start work.
The board, which will at first operate in a shadow form, will aim to help patients "shop around" and compare GPs.It will take on the day-to-day running of the NHS, with a staff of around 3,500 and overall responsibility for NHS care worth £80bn.But critics say the board could prove unaccountable and overbearing.Its role includes overseeing the new clinical commissioning groups led by GPs and other clinicians who will "buy" care within the NHS, and organising the treatment of complicated conditions such as heart transplants.Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of the board, said: "We'll publish information about general practice, so you can compare what your GP provides compared with others in the area and nationally."We think this will be a very powerful mechanism for patients to make choices about which GPs they use."If you've got a long-term condition, you might want to think in future about different GPs and whether they're providing a full range of service for that condition."Sir David added: "We know that there are always teething troubles when you are issuing clinical data. People are concerned about the quality of it, and inevitably we'll have to discuss this with GPs."But I think that we can get over all of that, and do a really good job for GPs and patients."
