An ostrich contemplates PBC

摘要

Even on an island surrounded by silver beaches of the stuff, there is a limit to how long one can bury one's head in the sand. And so it is that, overcome at last by the ever strengthening ripples emanating from the mainland, we have had to face up to the reality of Practice Based Commissioning (PBC). Fortunately there are active minds at work in West Cornwall prepared to come to grips with what PBC might mean, and how it might be implemented, and all we have had to do so far is sign up to the collective agreement that makes us part of the Commissioning Group. Furthermore, the cost and inconvenience of crossing the 25 miles of water that separate us is accepted as a valid excuse to opt out of attending board meetings, and our minute practice size renders us almost insignificant in its deliberations, our ‘weighted value’ of the indicative budget (and the associated anticipated dividend from projected savings) being a paltry 2.5%. All the same, I feel duty bound to make some effort at least to understand the latest reform to have been foisted on us, however unwelcome it may be.