Six CCGs in Staffordshire have agreed to share an accountable officer, despite the local LMC initially submitting a vote of no confidence because of the decision.
NHS Stoke-on-Trent, NHS North Staffordshire, NHS East Staffordshire, NHS Stafford & Surrounds, NHS Cannock Chase and NHS South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula CCGs will now be sharing an accountable officer.
This comes after North Staffordshire LMC submitted a vote of ‘no confidence’ in NHS Stoke-on-Trent and NHS North Staffordshire CCGs over the decision.
GPs in the area were concerned that a joint accountable officer would see the £150m debt of the southern Staffordshire CCGs be combined with the £10m deficit of the CCGs in the north.
However, as Pulse reported, the vote of no confidence prompted several caveats to be added to the ballot, which the LMC then supported.
Dr Ruth Chambers, clinical chair of NHS North Staffordshire and NHS Stoke-on-Trent CCGs, told Pulse that a shared accountable officer will enable the area to provide ‘new models of care that local GP leaders and others in primary care co-design’.
She said: ‘The single commissioning structure will reduce CCG running costs and minimise duplication of commissioning work programmes.
‘It’s good that after our membership event in Northern Staffordshire and continuing interactions with member practices and local leads, the majority of our practices endorse this way forward with specific caveats such as continuing and robust locality arrangements with locally sensitive commissioning decision making.’
