Government postpones first ACOs to allow further consultation

The government will delay the formation of the first accountable care organisations in England while further consultation takes place, the health and social care secretary has said.

In a letter to Sarah Wollaston, chair of the House of Commons Health Committee, Jeremy Hunt said that the ACO contract that was published in draft form last year would not be implemented in any area of the country until NHS England had concluded a national public consultation this spring.1

The commitment followed Wollaston’s request for Hunt to delay the introduction of the new ACO contract until after the Health Committee had heard evidence on the issue as part of an ongoing inquiry into the NHS’s sustainability and transformation partnerships (STPs), which aims to report after …