Improving how community services work for patients is critical to making the NHS more effective and efficient. Commissioners have an important opportunity to commission community services in a way that will work better for patients. As community services contracts expire, commissioners will need to consider how to improve services. To make good decisions for patients, commissioners should engage with patients in a meaningful, effective way. Further, they will need to assess patients’ needs, think through which models of care might work best for patients, and explore which providers are most likely to deliver the changes that commissioners want for patients.