The new contract for the delivery of this service started in October 2016. It was previously provided by a large private company. We galvanized local people to express their views on the service, including a petition to the Clinical Commissioning Group. We worked as members of the public to influence the contract specification so that it stressed local knowledge, integration with local GP services, and quality as well as cost. The new contract was awarded to a not-for-profit consortium of GPs.
