In the last post I mentioned some of the changes in current government policy.  One of the current challenges for many of us is that a lot of the details about the future structure of the NHS are not known.  When things are unknown, it is easy to fill those voids with ideas and best guesses about what will happen.  Over the last few weeks I have tried to avoid best guessing what will happen. 

Today, the Department of Health, published a consultation document, Liberating the NHS; Commissioning for Patients, this document proposes structures and responsibilities for the NHS Commissioning Board and GP consortiums.  The consulation suggests that there will be a statutory responsibility for the NHS Commissioning Board to commission services that include prison health.

This is good news for us, in that some of the future is becoming clearer. If it is agreed, then I expect that implementing it in the West Midlands...