Welcome to our section on the council and the PCT.

Herefordshire Council works in partnership with central and local government to help support the citizens of the county. Central government manage national services that are relevant to anyone in UK society, irrespective of location.

Herefordshire Council is responsible for many key services including education, highways and planning, social services and economic regeneration. As a unitary authority it also manages a large number of additional services, most prominently council tax collection and domestic refuse collection.

Herefordshire PCT was formed in 2000, and employs about 1600 people. The PCT is managed by a Board and a Professional and Commissioning Executive (PaCE) which includes local GPs, nurses, Social Services, Public Health Director, other healthcare professionals and lay members.

The Primary Care Trust and the Council have a strong track record in working together and the introduction of a joint commissioning of public services puts aside previous organisational boundaries to support and improve the health, wellbeing and prosperity of Herefordshire people. The aim is to make public services more responsive to the needs and expectations of individual customers and patients.

The new partnership, operating via a single management structure, will work in an integrated and co-ordinated way to plan and commission a wide variety of public services (such as health, social care, housing, leisure, transport, environmental services and education), which all affect the wellbeing of individuals and communities. By combining resources and reconfiguring the way in which services are delivered, the joint management team, working across the partnership, is already providing the leadership needed to establish the necessary cultural and organisational changes.

Further information is available regarding the council and the PCT from the following links:
Annual Audit and Inspection letter 2008
Performance Report
Comprehensive Performance Assessment
Hereford's Community Involvement Strategy
Herefordshire PCT
www.herefordshirepartnership.co.uk
www.herefordshire.gov.uk