Health minister promises ProCure 21 transfer to DoH

Industry campaigners were hailing a victory this week following confirmation that ProCure 21 will be transferred to the Department of Health (DoH) when NHS Estates is abolished.
The decision to transfer ProCure 21 to the DoH rather than to the Purchasing and Supplies Agency (PASA) was confirmed last week in a letter from health minister Lord Warner to Professor Rudi Klein, chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors' Group.
In the letter, Lord Warner writes: "The proposal for NHS Estates is that its core policy functions, which include construction policy and NHS ProCure 21, should move into the Department of Health, rather than being at arm's length.
"I believe that this demonstrates that we recognise that estates and facilities issues are at the core of policy, standard setting and holding the system to account and that these roles can be better delivered as part of a major department of state rather than an agency that is one stage removed."
Klein said: "This is a breakthrough. The tone of the letter indicates we can be a little more optimistic that ProCure 21 will fulfil its programme with the resources it has and within the scope of government."
Don Ward, chief executive of industry reform group Be, said the letter was good news. "This sounds as good as we could have hoped for.
"I think it would be a positive move for ProCure 21 to have a central role in construction policy at the DoH," Ward added.
NHS Estates insiders are also optimistic about the future of ProCure 21.
One commented: "It is looking good for ProCure 21. The question now is whether the ProCure 21 team will be kept intact, since cost savings are at the heart of this."