NHS Provider Licence - what it means for commissioners

Briefing for commissioners on the NHS provider licence and Commissioner Requested Services
Monitor, April 2014

• The NHS Provider licence sets out conditions providers must meet to help Monitor to ensure that the health sector works for the benefit of patients. 
• These conditions enable Monitor to: 
• help commissioners ensure essential local services continue if providers get into serious financial difficulty; 
• ensure choice and competition operate in the best interests of patients; 
• set prices for NHS-funded services; 
• use regulatory tools to incentivise and enable the delivery of more integrated care so services are less fragmented and easier to access for patients. 

Commissioner Requested Services - actions to take

Briefing for commissioners on the NHS provider licence and Commissioner Requested Services
Monitor: 17 January 2014

• From 1 April 2014, all providers of health care services for the NHS,  including independent providers, will require a Monitor licence unless they are exempt (under regulations made by the Department of Health).
• NHS commissioners have primary responsibility for ensuring the continuity of services for patients in their area. That responsibility includes designating a range of services commissioners believe should continue to be provided locally if any individual provider is at risk of failing financially - Commissioner Requested Services. All providers of Commissioner Requested Services will need a licence.
• This document includes actions which must be taken by CCGs before April 2014.

Ensuring NHS services when a CCG gets into financial difficulty

Consultation on guidance for commissioners 
Monitor, 16 August 2012

• Draft Commissioner Requested Services and Protected Services Guidance for consultation. 
• The guidance sets out a process for commissioners to follow to ensure that key NHS services remain available for patients if a provider gets into serious financial difficulty.