The government should set out a clear vision for the future of practice based commissioning if the policy is to deliver better services for patients, says a health policy think tank. It calls for national guidance for GPs and primary care trusts on how best to implement the policy.

A report of a two year study by the King’s Fund says that the health minister Ara Darzi was right to commit the government to continue with practice based commissioning in his recent review of the NHS (BMJ 2008,337,a644, doi:10.1136/bmj.a644). If implemented well, the King’s Fund report says, the policy could help GPs deliver better services to patients, more choice of treatments, and more effective …