The Health and Social Care Bill is currently going through parliament, following publication of the NHS White Paper and the Public Health White Paper. Link to a simple map of the new structures.
Subject to the passing of the bill, primary care trusts (PCTs) will be abolished, and from April 2013 local authorities will take responsibility for public health commissioning and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) for clinical commissioning. As of July, 2011, 257 pathfinder CCGs have been announced, covering around 97% of the population.

Previously, PCTs and local authorities have worked with voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations
to improve health and reduce health inequalities in their areas.
As the system goes through transition, it is important for relationships to be made between the new commissioners and the VCS to ensure that the knowledge and experience of working with communities, particularly harder to reach communities is plugged into the new system.  A resource that commissioners may find useful is A Guide to the Voluntary Sector in Health and Social Care for Commissioners.

The purpose of this web resource is two fold:

• to link clinical commissioners  with the relevant voluntary sector organisations in each locality. Where appropriate these are the ‘local infrastructure organisations’ (or Council for Voluntary Services) – which can
  support commissioners talk with a network of organisations working in health and social care across their area. 

  Where there are gaps in local infrastructure, or it would be useful to have a conversation between areas, then it may be useful to contact, the overarching regional infrastructure body for the VCS in the region- see each ‘regional overview’ section for relevant contact details.

• to signpost support for voluntary sector organisations round the transition in health and social care, across England.
  Follow the links in each ‘regional overview’ to find support for your organisations as the health and social care system goes through the current transition.
  There are also some national resources for the voluntary sector including briefings, news, e-bulletins and coordination of consultation responses- to input a strong voice from the voluntary sector into the changes.

Regional Voices, as a strategic partner of the Department of Health, aims to support the transition of the
NHS. In each of the nine English regions there is a network which champions the engagement of the voluntary sector within the region. Each regional network runs a health and social care network, providing the bridge between local and national policy and share good practice across the region. On a national level, Regional Voices connects each of the regional networks, enabling the critical connection between national, regional and local.