National priorities

• The NHS in England: the operating framework for 20010/11
• High quality care for all: The operating framework for the NHS in England 2009/10
• The operating framework for the NHS in England 2008/09
• An annexe to the report focuses on co-operation and competition, and outlines actions for commissioners.

Health reforms

NHS Next Stage Review: High quality care for all (Department of Health 2008)
This outlines plans for personal health budgets, integrated care organisations and a scheme enabling payment for improved outcomes within commissioning contracts. It calls for greater clinician involvement in strategic planning and service development.

NHS Next Stage Review: Our vision for primary and community care (Department of Health 2008)
This looks at how PCTs can lead local change, with plans to reinvigorate practice-based commissioning (PBC), and outlines pilot schemes to test models for commissioning more integrated services from multi-professional groups.

Health reform in England: Update and commissioning framework (Department of Health 2006)
This reaffirms the government's commitment to changes to commissioning to drive health reform and outlines how practice-based commissioning (PBC) will enable GPs to develop new services. An annexe focuses on the commissioning role of PCTs.

Commissioning a patient-led NHS (Department of Health 2005)
This outlines the changes required to shift to a commissioning-driven service. It sets out expectations and responsibilities, including for PCTs to enhance contestability by securing services from a range of providers while minimising direct PCT provision.

Health reform in England: Update and next steps (Department of Health 2005)
This looks at progress of reforms to give people more control over health services, including developing more diverse providers. It introduces practice-based commissioning as a way of influencing local service development.

Community services

Our health, our care, our say (Department of Health 2006)
This White Paper offers a strategy to shift care from acute to community settings, with more joint working and patient choice. It highlights the need for practice-based and PCT commissioners to link decisions about acute, primary and community provision.

Delivering care closer to home: Meeting the challenge (Department of Health 2008)
This looks at commissioning challenges in moving care closer to home and the impact of other drivers like local area agreements. Case studies cover partnership working, service integration, information sharing and leadership development.

Increased choice

Choosing Health (Department of Health 2004)
The White Paper suggests ways to increase prevention and develop services around local needs. It identifies the potential for partnership working between statutory, independent and voluntary sectors.

Creating a patient-led NHS: Delivering the NHS improvement plan (Department of Health 2005)
This policy focuses on giving patients more choice and shifting the focus to health promotion and prevention. It highlights the need for new integrated service models, transparent provider accreditation and national contracts not local spot purchasing.

Social care commissioning

Strong and prosperous communities (Department for Communities and Local Government 2006)
This White Paperoutlines a framework for partnership working between local authorities and other statutory providers, with local area agreements to provide a single set of priorities that will help tackle complex, cross-cutting issues.

Creating strong, safe and prosperous communities statutory guidance (Department for Communities and Local Government 2007)
This outlines how local authorities should agree local priorities and outcomes through local area agreements and joint strategic needs assessments, and ways they should involve service users and local communities throughout the commissioning cycle.

Public involvement

A framework for creating a stronger local voice in the development of health and social care services (Department of Health 2006)
This sets out plans for public and patient involvement to influence local service design and delivery. It introduces local involvement networks (LINks) and gives overview and scrutiny committees (OSCs) more focus on commissioning decisions.