18.08.17
Three CCGs slapped with NHS England legal directions
Three CCGs have been slapped with NHS England legal directions requiring them to produce urgent improvement and financial plans, as well as hire turnaround directors and review their executive team and senior appointments.
The commissioning bodies for North Derbyshire, North Lincolnshire and Solihull are the first to receive legal directions this financial year and, as usual, these will be regularly monitored and updated or removed when sufficient improvements are made.
Following a capability and capacity review from March this year, North Derbyshire CCG will now have to draft an improvement plan within a month, which must be implemented immediately after NHS England approval.
Within seven weeks from now, the CCG will also have to produce a credible financial recovery plan that ensures the organisation can operate within its 2017-18 annual budgets and subsequent years, as well as thoroughly analyses the causes behind the deterioration of its financial position.
The financial plan must include a clear implementation plan with timescales for achieving any planned efficiency initiatives, which must include implementation of the Right Care programme.
Leadership-wise, North Derbyshire will have to recruit a turnaround director subject to NHS England approval.
North Lincolnshire has been granted a bit more time – six weeks from today – to produce an improvement plan, but just four weeks to produce a financial recovery plan. The requirements for both of these plans remain the same.
Alongside the plans, the CCG will have three months to review its current governance arrangements and develop a plan for implementing any subsequent recommendations. It has not been required to appoint a turnaround director.
In Solihull, the CCG will have four weeks to write a financial plan, with requirements also including a clear understanding of how it will balance the books by demonstrating links to internal budgets, activity plans, contracting and reporting.
By 30 September, it must also draft an ‘integration plan’ for place-based integration with key partners that includes the development of joint commissioning arrangements, as well as appoint a chief financial officer in co-operation with NHS England.
While these legal directions were only published yesterday, they formally came into force on 14 August and will apply until they are updated or revoked.