Since the announcement of the success regimes, West Essex CCG has had no further guidance on when the regimes will start or how they will operate.
Since the announcement of the success regimes, West Essex CCG has had no further guidance on when the regimes will start or how they will operate.
Claire Morris, chief officer West Essex CCG, said: “To be honest, the success regime hasn’t really started, there was a lot of noise and announcements, we’ve had almost no further guidance and contact. I’ve no information about timescales, when it will begin, or who is going to be leading the process.”
The announcements indicated that a programme director was going to be appointed but the CCG has not heard who this would be or whether the regimes would begin in weeks, months, or longer.
Explaining why the CCG has got to this point, Morris said this was due to the fact they have five small to medium sized hospitals in the county, whereas other CCGs that are in balance tend to have one large acute provider.
She said: “We really struggle with our proximity to London, so we loose workforce fairly routinely. They train in the country and probably live in the country but choose to work in London where the salaries are higher. We’ve got some real pockets of deprivation and coastal deprivation in the county, some really complex issues.
“I think the CCGs in a way have inherited the consequences of previous regimes, issues that have led us to where we are now.”
She said that the success regimes will be helpful to link them with the rest of the county, for example to look at surgical networks, and how they sustain some of our key services.
The CCG is currently in discussion with the county council at the moment about much more extensive pooled arrangements beyond the Better Care Fund.
“We think the success regime will really help to progress those pieces of work that can only be done on a county-wide level. If those are embraced and moved forward then I think there is every good chance that we can emerge with Essex health and care services in a much stronger position,” she said.
