Origins of NHS Alliance

NHS Alliance grew from the Locality Commissioning movement and its predecessor organisation the National Association of Commissioning GPs (NACGP). NACGP was created in 1994 to support Locality Commissioning Groups that were developing spontaneously all over the country. Their common purpose was that the clinicians and the groups should become involved in the whole commissioning process for their local populations - which included planning, provision and review as well as purchasing secondary services. They also wanted to develop a culture of collective working within the NHS and a commitment to equity, which ran counter to the prevailing philosophy of the internal market. NACGP was a catalyst for the Locality Commissioning Pilots - prototypes of future Primary Care Groups and also wrote "Restoring the Vision" in September 1997. This paper called for a new system of multi-professional locality based groups and many of its ideals were realised in the subsequent White Paper:- "The New NHS - modern and dependable". By then, however, the word "commissioning" was being used in the limited sense of commissioning secondary services. Additionally, Primary Care Groups were embracing the multi-professional culture that "Restoring the Vision" had called for. The titled "The National Association of Commissioning GPs" thus became redundant and in May 1998 NACGP closed its doors and NHS Alliance was born.

NHS Alliance's philosophy is, however, founded upon its past. A strong commitment to the principles underlying the original NHS and working arrangements that ensure that it maintains close contact with those at the working face of primary care. It continues to be an inclusive organisation with a wide range of partners, which now include most professional, managerial and lay organisations.