The new NHS organisation that will be responsible for the planning and purchasing of local healthcare and health services from April has been given the go-ahead after passing a rigorous authorisation process.
NHS North Tyneside Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been assessed ready to take on its new legal duties as set out in the Health and Social Care Act (2012).
From April 1 the CCG will become a statutory body with a budget of just over £280million to ensure it puts the right hospital and community health services in place for the people of the borough.
Dr John Matthews, clinical chair of NHS North Tyneside CCG, said: “This is very exciting news and the result of support and contributions from many people. Most of us who are part of the CCG not only work in North Tyneside but also live in the borough meaning that we and our families also rely upon local NHS services too.”
Dr Matthews continued: “This gives us more than just professional interest in ensuring that we are doing what is right to secure the local NHS for patients and the public in the future – we know there are challenges ahead but we are looking forward to meeting them head on.”
A panel from the NHS CB visited in November 2012 to explore its readiness to take on new responsibilities which involved looking in detail at many aspects of how the CCG will operate in the future.
Maurya Cushlow, the accountable officer for NHS North Tyneside CCG, said: “We are delighted that the CCG has passed such a rigorous authorisation process. We’ve been praised on many aspects which ensures that we are in a strong position to take on the challenges of commissioning healthcare and health services. This is a credit to all the staff who have worked hard to achieve this fantastic result.
“We know that taking over from the current commissioners, NHS North of Tyne in April will be a real challenge but we’re well placed to carry out our new responsibilities and to make changes to support the further health improvement of local people.”
Assessors from the NHS Commissioning Board (CB), which is the body nationally accountable for the outcomes achieved by the NHS, also praised the CCG for its ambitions to improve healthcare locally and their plans to involve patients and the public in this work.
Maurya continued: “This is a result of an incredible amount of hard work by many people in our team and I would like to sincerely thank them all. We’re all focusing on the future and the real work starts from now – I’m excited to see how we can make a difference.”