Merger to create biggest NHS healthcare group in country
THREE organisations in charge of Birmingham’s healthcare will merge to create the biggest Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in England.
The move has been made official after it was revealed earlier this summer that the three groups were looking at combining.
Birmingham CrossCity, Birmingham South Central and Solihull CCGs are currently independent but continually work together. The merger, which is subject to approval from NHS England, will be in place by April 2018. Currently CCGs are in charge of primary care.
Rhod Mitchell has been appointed as chairman designate of the Birmingham and Solihull Health Commissioning Board and will play a pivotal role in leading the work of the newly-formed committee.
He has been a lay adviser at Solihull CCG since September 2015, where he chairs the joint primary care committee with NHS England.
Speaking of his appointment, Mr Mitchell said: “I am looking forward to the challenge of bringing the functions of the CCGs together and overseeing this vital first part of the process. The joint committee will be responsible for helping the three CCGs transform into a single commissioning voice and will be working very closely with the clinical leads and the current CCG chairs.
“It will be essential for ensuring the proactive, robust and cohesive arrangements that will be required, as we work towards the new organi- sation going live in 2018.”
The three CCGs have worked closely together in the past to commission acute hospital, children’s and mental health services.
Dr Barbara King, Birmingham CrossCity CCG’s accountable officer, said: “We strongly feel that bringing the functions of the three CCGs together will really support the development of health commissioning across our area, whilst also providing a strong platform from which to build future models of health and care commissioning.”