Drug Action Teams
Back to Joint commissioningAdvantages
What are the advantages?
Much has been written on the advantages of joint commissioning approaches. The Liverpool Joint Consultative Committee produced a document in 1999 outlining the benefits of joint commissioning for work with substance misuse. It said that joint commissioning of services would lead to:
- clarity about local priorities for service provision and improvement
- a better understanding of each agency' purchasing intentions, wherever possible to be based on a set of common principles and objectives
- a clearer picture of the level of investment being made and of the services being purchased
- easier identification of gaps in service provision
- better links between the range of services required by drug misusers covering a wide variety of health and social interventions
- an evidence-based approach to purchasing which incorporates joint assessments of need where possible
- the development of clear outcomes for services and value-for-money indicators, along with monitoring processes
- the development of key strategic indicators, including baselines and tracking systems, which will tell commissioners about the effectiveness of their investments [in terms of their impact] on the -big picture-
- a reduction in the level of bureaucracy involved in the commissioning and monitoring of services, and single forms of application and points of contact for providers where possible
This is not a definitive list. Clearly, joint commissioning will develop with varying levels of sophistication around the country - not all areas will address all the points above and some may go into greater depth. However, it is important to remain aware of the possibilities if you are setting out to design a robust mechanism to deliver this approach.
