Practice-based commissioning and sexual reproductive health services: opportunities and threats.

J Fam Plann Reprod Health Care 2006: 32(1) Background The National Health Service (NHS) in England is going through another reorganisation, in the spirit of creating a ‘patient-led NHS’. Practice-based commissioning (PBC) refers to devolution of commissioning responsibilities from primary care trusts (PCTs) to individual or groups of primary care professionals; this may be a group of general practitioners (GPs), general practices, private consortia or other health care professionals. Commissioning is a term that has a loose meaning within the NHS but can encompass the process of securing services from providers by contract, as well as the planning and design of integrated care pathways.