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| Greater Manchester Councils 'to control £6bn NHS budget' | Greater Manchester Councils 'to control £6bn NHS budget' |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| The £6bn health and social care budget for Greater Manchester will be taken over by regional councils under devolved NHS powers, it is understood. | The £6bn health and social care budget for Greater Manchester will be taken over by regional councils under devolved NHS powers, it is understood. |
| The agreement is expected to be confirmed by the Chancellor George Osborne on Friday. | The agreement is expected to be confirmed by the Chancellor George Osborne on Friday. |
| It will see NHS England hand decision-making for spending on hospitals, GPs surgeries and drop-in centres to local politicians. | It will see NHS England hand decision-making for spending on hospitals, GPs surgeries and drop-in centres to local politicians. |
| The plan will come into force from April 2016. | The plan will come into force from April 2016. |
| It will mean council leaders and ultimately Greater Manchester's new directly elected mayor will control how budgets are allocated. | |
| It is hoped that by integrating health and social care services, it will ease pressure on hospitals and help to improve home care services for patients who need it. | It is hoped that by integrating health and social care services, it will ease pressure on hospitals and help to improve home care services for patients who need it. |
| A shadow Greater Manchester Health and Wellbeing board will be appointed, it is understood. It would work closely with existing clinical commissioning groups of GPs. | |
| The board is expected to run from April, before control of the budget is handed over a year later. | |
| Richard Humphries, assistant director of the King's Fund think tank, said a full transfer of responsibility would be a reform "on a breathtaking scale" but could pose serious risks. | |
| Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: "Depending on the detail - and the detail is really crucial and we don't have that yet - you could either see this as a triumph for local democracy or creating real risks of yet another reorganisation of the NHS when it's barely recovered from the last one." | |
| Analysis | |
| Kevin Fitzpatrick, BBC Radio Manchester | |
| If the initial devolution deal for Greater Manchester was ground breaking, then this development changes the shape of local government in a way that would that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. | |
| By taking control of the entire NHS budget, the area's ten councils, and ultimately the elected mayor, will be able to join up health and social care in a way that's never been possible before. | |
| In addition to control of the £2bn of budgets agreed last year for skills and training, transport and planning, the £6bn that comes with this deal means local politicians will decide how more than a quarter of government money is spent in their area. | |
| Local politicians describe the move as an incredible opportunity, but it also comes with risks with just over a year to plan before the money and a huge amount of new responsibility is handed over. | |
| Greater Manchester must ready itself to break more new ground as devolution picks up pace. |