While there is optimism about the future, there is a good degree of sadness about the ending of CCGs. Teams around the country will be marking the occasion.
Dr Findlay says: ‘I feel very sad about [the end of CCGs]. Obviously, I have now been through umpteen reorganisations, but I believe CCGs were one of the best I’ve seen. When we had small PCTs or small PCGs they were almost as good but didn’t have the level of clinical leadership we’ve had with CCGs.’ Durham CCG is planning to have a commemorative lunch on the last day the CCG is operating.
Dr John says: ‘We certainly thought of doing a brochure of the achievements of the CCG. City and Hackney did that before merging with North East London and it was fantastic. We’ve also thought about creating awards, to say “We really appreciated what you did and what you’ve been doing”.’
‘These last three years have been tough, with the pandemic. So part of me says “Phew, I’m glad I’m handing over to someone else”. The only thing I’m sad about is if people move on. I love our staff. I think our staff, from our management teams, to our clinicians across the system, have been brilliant, in all our boroughs. But I’m also excited about formulating new [teams]. So, there’s a mix of elation and sadness.’
Dr Watt says: ‘It was inevitable that it would be this way. I’m not so naïve to think this three-letter abbreviation was going to last much longer. It’s important that we take what has worked, and
I think the clinical leadership and involvement, particularly from general practice, has been really helpful.
‘It’s allowed general practice to be the big provider that it is, or that it can be. The trick will be not to lose that and to make sure we support our GP board locally, because I’m optimistic that that will be the way to make sure general practice continues to be involved. It is about working together as a true system. I know there are going to be pressures, particularly demand capacity and staffing, which will be huge across the system. Workload transfer is a really big risk for the system.’ Her CCG had a day of celebration for the CCG to ‘reflect on the achievements we have made together’.
The three CCGs in Dr Lakhani’s area, Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland, have put together a showreel collecting people’s memories and achievements during the last nine years.
About the survey
The CCG evaluation survey asked those involved in CCGs about the successes and failures of GP-led commissioning.
The majority of the 143 respondents were GPs (26%), 15% were clinical leads, 7% were CCG chairs and 5% were accountable officers.
Of the 47% that described their role as ‘other’, the majority had managerial or leading positions in the CCG ranging from CCG chair, head of quality, chief nurse and chief financial officer.
The other respondents included: one interim integrated care system chief medical officer, five pharmacists, three practice managers, three nurses, six GPs, two PCN CDs, four CCG governing body members, one retired hospital consultant, one 111 provider and one social care representative.
The survey ran from 28 March 2022 to 30 May 2022 and was promoted by Healthcare Leader newsletters and on the website.
Participants were offered the chance to win £100 John Lewis voucher.
Resources
- kingsfund.org.uk/publications/integrated-care-systems-explained
- nhsconfed.org/publications/clinical-commissioning-groups
- england.nhs.uk/statistics/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/03/Jan22-RTT-SPN-publication-v2.pdf
- england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ccg-auth-app-guide.pdf
- england.nhs.uk/publication/the-constitutions-of-integrated-care-boards/
- england.nhs.uk/ccg-details/
- england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/next-steps-for-integrating-primary-care-fuller-stocktake-report.pdf
