The authorisation dates for CCGs have been pushed back a month by the NHS CB. The Board has extended its original deadlines to allow for an extra period of dialogue between itself and the commissioning groups in the four separate waves of authorisation. You can view the authorisation dates here.
Dame Barbara Hakin Managing Director of Commissioning Development said the delay was not 'material' in the day to day running of CCGs which will all still take on their powers and responsibilities from the 1 April 2013.
The switch means CCGs in wave one of the authorisation process will now be confirmed in November rather than this month. Waves two three and four have also been similarly affected. All CCGs should now be fully authorised by February 2013.
Board papers from the Commissioning Board's recent monthly meeting also revealed how authorisation process will work. CCGs will be initially assessed by the Board's local area teams. Those findings will then be reviewed by a 'moderation panel' to ensure applications are consistent across the country.
Applications will then be assessed by a 'conditions panel' which will apply further checks before the Board completes the authorisation process. CCGs will be able to discover the outcomes of the 'conditions panel' in order to supply any comments or new evidence to prevent the need to have any conditions imposed upon them.