By Stephen Peckham

Commissioning is a complex and difficult process. It is fundamentally about relationships and with the organisation and structure of the NHS currently in flux the job of commissioners are constantly being faced with new challenges.

Right now, there is plenty that is new, changing and uncertain, both from the policy perspective and in practical terms. Most of those concerned are just finding their way. Many of the issues which pre-occupy commissioners are similar, regardless of whether PCTs, Clinical Commissioning Groups or any other group are in charge. They are often about getting right the information for decision-making and about feeling constrained by national and public priorities.

At PRUComm our job is to understand how commissioning processes work and how people are managing the complex challenges and relationships, so we can share the learning with colleagues. We’re not here to tell commissioners how they should be operating but by working with commissioners and policy makers we hope to support policy and practice.

We are pulling together some of the learning from previous research – in the UK and other countries – on commissioning. We will be examining areas such as  the impact of patient involvement and clinical leadership in the process. A focus of our energy will be the workings of the many different relationships – for example between NHS commissioners and local authorities as well as between local and national healthcare commissioners. Knowledge and analysis will be fed back to the Department of Health, which funds the unit, and across the NHS and among the local agencies with whom we work.

This is a relatively new field of research both here and internationally. It represents a great opportunity for us to bring learning from Britain to other similar health economies. We will have done our job well, if we can really help all the players in this vast process to get the best out of commissioning – for their organisations, but most of all for the key focus of commissioning – patients and the general public.

Those with responsibility in this field are trying to spend the money in the right way, but it is a dynamic, complicated and difficult process. Hopefully, we can offer them tools and some thinking that will make their tasks easier.

Stephen Peckham is Director of PRUComm