Here in west Hertfordshire – the boroughs of Hertsmere, Dacorum, St Albans, Three Rivers and Watford – all 70 GP practices have got together to form a Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). We are called NHS Herts Valleys CCG. What is NHS Herts Valleys CCG and what do we do? Our role is to buy and plan high quality health services on behalf of the people who live in this area. This is called commissioning. We think that GPs are in a really good position to lead on commissioning; local people are more likely to visit a GP than they are any other healthcare professional and that means they have a good understanding of services and what people need. We commission local hospital services, mental health services and community services such as community nurses, therapists and others. We have to divide our budgets between the services to make sure that everyone gets the care they need. We know that we can’t do this on our own so we work very closely with the local council, those organisations who provide services like hospitals, voluntary organisations and importantly local people including patients and carers. Working with our partners and local people, we want to do all we can to support people live long and healthy lives. Our 70 GP practices have grouped themselves into four localities – Dacorum, Hertsmere, St Albans & Harpenden and Watford & Three Rivers and they all have representatives on our board. There are other important people on our board such as a nursing director, finance director and a representative from our patient and public involvement committee. The rules the CCG needs to operate by are set out in the our constitution. These rules are in keping with the NHS Constituiton and our own values and guiding principles.