Adrian

I am NOT stating anything on behalf of the NHSE I can't.

Is it not the case that some community trusts may turn themselves into PCGs,
wont they be about that size?   Some staff may be associated i.e. social
service.   That may make them around the size I have referred to, however I
will go with your figure of 50.  Links are needed for scheduling
appointments, document sharing and shared access will need to cross some
fuzzy boundaries.   I am not sure the legal boundaries will be a good basis
for networking boundaries.

How many people do you think might be in the fuzzy boundary of a PCG and do
you think they need to share things like address books, scheduling, digital
signatures etc.

John



-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Adrian Midgley
Sent: 07 May 1998 00:51
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: RE: Locality Communications


[log in to unmask],Net writes:
>>JC:   I agree, will a PCG be complex organisation?   200 plus employees
>>100,000 patients?

>AR:No.

>Well errrr yes.   About 80 percent of businesses in the UK have less
>than 50
>employees.   200 is complex and very different from 50.   I have run an
>organisation of 398 and that was complex.   You may find it easier to
>herd
>cats than run a PCG:)

>John

John, on behalf of NHSE are you stating here that the guidance on the
White paper - particualry that in HSC 1998 65 has been revoked or was
not entirely accurate in the first place, IE that the place of GPs as
independent contractors under PCG arrangements is in fact going to
change to that of salaried employees of a PCG?

You will wish to seek guidance at a high level before answering in the
affirmative, since the Health Minister and the Secretary of State for
Health are both reported to have assured the highest of the medical
profession's representative bodies that GPs will continue to be small
businesses running their own practices.

But I suspect you will reconsider and answer in the negative, in which
case the largest practice I know has 14 GPs, and approximately 2 whole
time equivalent staff per GP, which given many of them are half time,
and even allowing for the attached hangers on, doies not go above 50
certainly 50 actually plugged in.

Even if St Thomas was a special case, it wold be just that, a special
case.  There is another in GLasgow and another in Whitstable, and no
doubt a couple more, but they are not reasons to give me (single-handed
with 5 employees) a networking solution aimed at being proof against
becomeing an employee of an org of 200.

Perhaps you have debagged the cat after all?

I got that message about a minute after you sent it.  Is NHS Net that
much faster?  And surely if spped is the problem, I will do better with
a cable link locally to give me a T1 speed connection.



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