Publication Scheme

This section explains what information NHS Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group makes (or expects to make) routinely available and how it can be accessed.

In line with section 20 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 we have a legal duty to adopt and maintain a publication scheme for the publication of information relating to the organisation.  The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities.

Our publication scheme is a good starting point to find information, so if you are looking for information on a specific subject please take a look to see if it is already available.

Classes of information

The Information Commissioner’s Office is a national body, established to promote public access to official information and protect personal information. It sets out the kinds of information that it expects all public bodies to provide as part of its normal business activities. There are seven ‘classes’ of information for public bodies to use to publish this information:

• Who we are and what we do
• What we spend and how we spend it
• What are our priorities and how we are doing
• How we make decisions
• Our policies and procedures
• Lists and registers
• The services we offer

In this guide we set out the information that is available within the publication scheme, and how to access it under each of these headings. Before considering making a ‘Freedom of Information’ request, you are encouraged to check whether the information you are seeking is already available on our website. If you request something that is already published, we will refer you to where it can be found.

You can view our Freedom of Information Policy here. If after reading these pages you are not able to find the information you are looking for, please contact us via our Freedom of Information enquiry, and we will do our best to provide you with the information you need.

How we fit into the NHS structure

A Guide to the Healthcare System in England, including the Statement of NHS Accountability, was published in May 2013 by the Department of Health and provides a comprehensive overview of the NHS and the role of CCGs as commissioners of services.

Our board members and senior staff

Details of the CCG Governing Board and Primary Care Commissioning Committee are available on this website.  The board takes decisions on policy and strategy, and delegates specific functions and responsibilities to its committees. Details of each individual on the board can be found here.

 Organisational Structure

The CCG is overseen by its Governing Board, a body established to run the statutory organisation on behalf of its member practices. Practices come together at least annually in the practice member’s forum to review progress of the CCG, confirm future strategic direction and to consider matters of business such as its constitution and appointment of elected board members.

Our organisational structure can be found here.

Lists of and information relating to organisations with which the authority works in partnership

The CCG works with a number of important partner organisations and these include:

• NHS England (and in particular the Wessex Area Team)
• Neighbouring CCGs (and in particular NHS Fareham and Gosport CCG, and NHS South Eastern Hampshire CCG)
• Portsmouth City Council – with who we work together to commissioning services in an integrated way, work as partners on the Health and Well Being Board, and obtain public health advice
• Local Providers – notably Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Solent NHS Trust and Portsmouth Health
• Partner organisations – including HealthWatch, third and voluntary sector organisations, community and patient groups.

 Contact Us

Find information on how to contact us here.

There is a range of information published regarding our financial resources and how we are spending it – this includes:

Annual Accounts – we will publish our annual accounts along with our annual audit letter from our external auditors on our website when available each year.

Budgets – every year the CCG approves its financial plan for the year as part of its overall commissioning strategy and operating plan. In addition the Governing Board receives a financial report each time its meet to review variances against plans, risks and issues, mitigating and rectification actions. These can be found as part of our Governing Board papers here.

Financial Governance – we have a range of policies and procedures which govern our financial management arrangements. These include our:

• Constitution
• Standing orders
• Scheme of Reservation and Delegation
• Prime financial policies

These can all be found in the Publications section of this website.

Board Members and Senior Staff allowances and expenses – information on these will be contained in our annual accounts each year.

High cost payments – we regularly publish information regarding payments made over a value of £25,000, which is available to view here.

Staff pay arrangements – With the exception of Board members the CCG’s directly employed staff are employed on the national Agenda for Change pay scales and grading system, details of which can be found here.

Governing Board members pay, prior to the CCG taking on responsibilities as an employer, was established locally and approved by our predecessor (and former host organisation) Portsmouth City Teaching Primary Care Trust Remuneration Committee. The CCG’s remuneration arrangements are now overseen by the CCG’s Remuneration Committee, chaired by our deputy Chair and lay member for governance.

Procurement arrangements – the CCG has a procurement strategy which sets out its approach to procurement. This can be found in the Policies and Procedures section below.

Details of any contracts currently being tendered by us can be found on the Official Journal of the European Community (OJEC is now recognised as OJEU – the Official Journal of the European Union). This is the publication in which all tenders from the public sector which are valued above a certain financial threshold according to EU legislation must be published.

They are also published on the Supply 2 Health website, an online resource that advertises opportunities to provide Part B clinical services commissioned by the NHS in England.

On these sites you will also find information about contracts awarded.

The CCG publishes its Annual Reports on this website, which can be found in the Publications section.

Our Priorities

You can find our priorities set out in our commissioning strategy, which is available in the Publications section and in our 20/20 Vision document.

Our Performance

The Governing Board reviews performance at every board meeting. This includes reports related to quality and safety, key performance indicators and targets, and use of resources including finances. All these reports are available on our website as part of our published board papers.

Constitution

We set out the overarching governance arrangements of the CCG, along with a range of supporting policies and procedures, in our constitution. This includes our approach to patient and public involvement and our use of an ethical decision making framework.

Board Decisions

All of our published board papers, including agendas, reports and minutes are available to view on our website here. This includes minutes of the CCG’s formal sub committee meetings.

Patient and Public Involvement

We are fully committed to patient and public involvement. Find out more about this here.

We publish a range of policies and procedures on our website, including those that relate to:

• Conflict of Interest
• Equality and Diversity
• Financial Governance
• Freedom of Information
• Gifts and Hospitality
• Complaints, Concerns, Comments and Compliments
• Media 
• Communications and engagement strategy 
• Procurement
• Standards of Business Conduct
• Information Governance and Data Protection:
  • Records Management Policy
  •  Individual Rights Policy

NHS England requires CCGs to publish details of the sanctions due and applied to each of their major providers for failure to achieve the national standards set out in the NHS Standard Contract, together with information on how the CCG has spent or intends to spend those sums.

The sanctions are listed below.

• Quarter 4 2014-15
• Quarter 3 2015-16
• Quarter 2 2015-16