Primary Care Commissioning Committee

The primary care commissioning committee oversees the planning and delivery of primary care services in Lancashire and South Cumbria. This includes GP, pharmacy, optometry and dental services. The committee is held in public and papers are published on this website at least seven calendar days before the meeting. 

Lancashire and South Cumbria ICB has delegated responsibility from NHS England for the commissioning of primary care services. These are:

  • GP services
  • Dental services
  • Ophthalmic services 
  • Pharmacy services 

The ICB has a formal agreement with NHS England which requires the ICB to make primary care commissioning decisions in line with relevant legislation, national policy and agreed processes.

This includes the ICB’s legal duty to involve patients and the public in shaping the provision of services.

The committee takes accountability to ensure that  commissioning decisions are made in-line with the delegation agreement with NHS England.

To support the ICB in discharging its duties it has five sub-groups with delegated decision-making responsibilities:

  • Primary medical services group
  • Primary dental services group
  • Pharmaceutical services group
  • Primary optometric services Group
  • Capital working group

The groups also have interdependencies with other committees and groups within the ICB which have the responsibility for primary care quality, performance and transformation, including:

  • Finance and performance committee
  • Quality committee
  • Primary care quality group
  • Primary and integrated neighbourhood care transformation programme group

The primary care commissioning committee will operate in an open and transparent way and in accordance with the principles within the ICB strategy for working with people and communities. As such the following arrangements will be put in place for meetings:

  • Plain-english information about the committee and the membership will be published on the ICB website, along with meeting papers, which will be easy to access
  • Committee meetings will be available for members of the public to observe in person with best endeavors to ensure these are held in publicly accessible and appropriate venues in locations across Lancashire and South Cumbria
  • Papers for the meeting will be published five working days prior to the meeting taking place on the ICB website. This will be promoted on the ICB website and social media channels
  • Members of the public will be able to ask questions in writing prior to the meeting on agenda items. Every effort will be made to respond to these within the meeting.
  • A glossary of terms will be available and updated on a regular basis to support members of the public understand any acronyms or jargonistic language within reports

Information for members of the public observing the committee

To be open and transparent, members of the public are invited to observe the meeting. Details of the venue for each meeting will be available in advance. The venue, agenda, papers and minutes for the committee will be published on the meetings and papers page.

Members of the public can request to observe the committee in person by completing the contact us form, ensuring that you provide your name and contact email address. 

Submitting questions in advance

If you have any questions to put to the committee relating to items on the agenda, we ask for these to be submitted in advance of the meeting by completing the contact us form three working days before the meeting. Where relevant, questions will be addressed in the meeting and a written response will be sent directly to the individual who raised the question within 20 working days.

Further information on attending our committee is included on the meetings and papers page.

Guidance for attending meetings

A meeting in public is where members of the public can attend to observe a formal meeting. However, observers are not permitted to join in the discussion. 

These are different from public meetings, which are open forums to allow members of the public to ask questions and discuss issues with members of the NHS in Lancashire and South Cumbria – usually on a specific topic. 

The chair will keep to the timing on the agenda to make sure all items of business can be covered. This may mean not all questions can be covered in the meeting. Responses to all questions relevant to the agenda will be provided as part of the formal minutes of the meeting. 

There may be a need to hold meetings in public virtually at times, so please make sure you read the meeting etiquette section before joining one of our virtual meetings. 

For virtual committee meetings, please make sure cameras are switched off and microphones are muted.

Meetings and papers
Find Terms of Reference here
Glossary of terms and acronyms

Committees

Audit Committee >>
People Committee >>
Quality Committee >>
Public Involvement and Engagement Advisory Committee >>
Remuneration Committee >>
Finance and Performance Committee >>
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