Merger of Warwickshire’s three clinical commissioning groups for health edges a step closer

The merger of Warwickshire’s three clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) has edged a step closer after the plans were supported by county council health chiefs.

Councilors considered the plans at a special meeting of the adult social care and health overview and scrutiny committee yesterday (Wednesday).

The meeting was called to allow CCG officers to outline reasons for pulling together the three organisations - Coventry and Rugby, South Warwickshire and Warwickshire North.

Five key reasons were given for merging ranging from the more efficient use of resources to making it easier to recruit and retain staff.

David Eltringham, managing director of Nuneaton’s George Eliot Hospital, said: “There is quite a bit of duplication in the system and there is an opportunity for us to be more efficient in the way we operate.

“A good example of that is that we know that a large number of people historically come to the A&E department at the George Eliot Hospital perhaps when their care could have been offered in another place. It is an opportunity to move resources around - moving staff from the George Eliot into the community to prevent people from having to come to hospital.”

Cllr Pam Redford asked where these services would be based if not in the hospital.

Mr Eltringham gave an example: “Historically, people with hip or back pain would have been brought to hospital which is a waste of their time because we could probably deliver a lot of the things we do closer to home. So we have made the decision to invest in first contact physiotherapists who will be employed by George Eliot Hospital but work in GP practises. GPs will make referrals but rather than the patient having to come to the hospital, they can be seen in the GP practise.”

He explained that where there was no room in the surgeries, alternative venues could be looked at.

“There are places where we can do this quite quickly and other areas where we will have to plan a little bit or use different solutions,” he added. “There are buildings around the patch owned by community services and the local authority and a lot of those are suitable for seeing these patients so I think we have to get creative around some of this stuff.”

Councillors gave their unanimous support to the merger and with GPs from across the county already giving their support, the application will go to NHS England next month.

Anna Hargrave, chief transformation officer of the South Warwickshire CCG, added: “Having three different CCG who want to do things slightly differently isn’t useful for Warwickshire County Council. This will simplify things. It is about becoming a much smaller streamlined strategic organisation. “