NHS Primary Care Trust - Restructuring

Restructuring

In 2005 the Government announced that the number of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts would be reduced, the latter by about 50%. The result is that, as of 1 October 2006, there are 152 PCTs (reduced from 303) in England, with an average population of just under 330,000 per trust. After these changes, about 70% of PCTs are coterminous with local authorities having social service responsibilities, which increasingly facilitates joint planning.

On 12 July 2010, Andrew Lansley unveiled a new health white paper (which eventually became law as the Health and Social Care Act 2012) describing significant structural changes to the NHS under the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government. Among the changes announced, PCTs were to be abolished by 2013 with new GP-led commissioning consortia, Clinical Commissioning Groups, taking on the responsibilities they formerly held. The public health aspects of PCT business would become the responsibility of local councils. Facilities owned by PCTs would transfer to NHS Property Services. Strategic health authorities would also be abolished under these plans. Following widespread criticism of the plans, on April 4, 2011, the Government announced a "pause" in the progress of the Health and Social Care Bill to allow the government to 'listen, reflect and improve' the proposals.

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 received Royal Assent on the 27th March 2012 and PCTs were formally abolished on the 31st March 2013.