13.11.18
NHS England lifts legal directions on three CCGs after leadership shake-up
Three CCGs within the Central Sussex and East Surrey Commissioning Alliance (CSESCA) have had their legal directions related to their leadership lifted by NHS England after a major management shake-up.
Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex, and East Surrey CCGs were hampered with legal directions relating to the quality of their leadership, which meant they received additional support and had less control over the decision and work they carry out.
But all three moved to a shared accountable officer and executive team under CSESCA 10 months ago, and NHS England has now praised the CCGs for significant improvements made to the governance, capability and capacity of the organisations.
The legal directions in place relating to the financial performance of each of the CCGs will remain as NHS England continues to deliver a recovery plan which aims to address the “significant financial issues” they each face.
In a joint statement from Dr Laura Hill, Dr Elango Vijaykumar and Dr Minesh Patel, the respective clinical chairs of Crawley, East Surrey and Horsham and Mid Sussex CCGs, said: “This is extremely positive for our CCGs and will put is in a stronger position to work more effectively and address the challenges we collectively face.
“It is recognition of the hard work and improvements that have been made and is a clear endorsement of the positive changes we have made in how our organisations now work as an Alliance of CCGs.”
“To achieve this just ten months after our organisations started collaborating is a significant achievement and reflects the level of grip, rigour and clear ways of working that are set by the leadership we now have in place.”
East Surrey CCG was first given legal directions in 2015, whilst Crawley and Horsham and Mid Sussex were placed under legal directions 12 months ago.
In January, these two CCGs started working under a single management and East Sussex joined the partnership three months later, which has largely been attributed as the reason for the improvements.
Shared accountability officer Alex Doyle, who is also responsible for the other CCGs within the Sussex and East Surrey STP, praised the “significant progress” over the last 10 months and said they will now work closely to look at how they can commission even more effectively.
He said: “We still have a way to go to get to where we want to be, particularly around our finances, and we will continue to work hard to ensure we fulfil our commitment to getting our organisations into a more financially sustainable position.
“However, the lifting of these directions is a significant achievement and is a big step in the right direction on the improvement journey we are on.”
Image credit - Gareth Fuller/PA Archive/PA Images
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