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STP lead appointed single accountable officer for five Norfolk and Suffolk CCGs

STP lead appointed single accountable officer for five Norfolk and Suffolk CCGs
By Valeria Fiore Reporter
30 April 2019



Melanie Craig has been appointed as the accountable officer for five CCGs in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Ms Craig is currently executive lead of the Norfolk and Waveney Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP).

In February 2017 she was appointed chief officer of NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney CCG, guiding the CCG out of special measures after it was rated inadequate by NHS England in September 2017.

Ms Craig started her new role yesterday (29 April) alongside a new joint chief finance officer, John Ingham. Mr Ingham was previously chief finance officer at Norwich CCG.

The five CCGs – North Norfolk; Great Yarmouth and Waveney; South Norfolk; Norwich; and West Norfolk CCG – had already presented their proposals for sharing a single management team in November 2018.

North and South Norfolk CCGs have shared a single team of management and staff since July 2016.

In a statement, the CCGs said they are ‘now creating one single staff structure which is expected to be in place towards the end of the year’. However, a spokesperson clarified that it is not the CCGs’ intention to merge at this stage.

Commenting on her appointment, Ms Craig said: ‘Norfolk and Waveney are developing more integrated and sustainable ways of working.

‘We want this for patient-facing services, and we want this within organisations. This will help us to make the best use of our resources when demand and work pressures are increasing.

‘We shall continue to retain our local focus; our CCGs remain as separate entities, however, one team serving all five CCGs will provide greater coherence, consistency and efficiency whilst continuing to focus on important local priorities.’

The chairs of the five CCGs commented: ‘The many colleagues and stakeholders who know Melanie will know she is committed to our patients, is passionate to improve services and has an excellent track record in leadership.’

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