Restoring services and tackling deficit 'key priorities' for new Shropshire health body

The governing body of the new Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group met online yesterday for the first time since the organisation officially formed on April 1.

Before that, there were two CCGs with the responsibility for buying NHS healthcare services for people in the county - one overseeing services in the Shropshire borough and the other in Telford and Wrekin.

Finance director Claire Skidmore is leading the group as interim accountable officer, with recruitment ongoing to find someone to permanently fill the role.

Speaking about the year ahead, she said: "It does feel like exciting times.

"My role as accountable officer is interim so there will be other arrangements coming forward that will be developed and firmed up over time but I'm committed to Shropshire.

"I was asked if I'd like the opportunity to step up and I was really keen to do that because we've got a lot to do but we've got some great people and some good plans.

"I want to do what I can to make sure that we deliver those.

"For me there are a couple of big tickets in terms of the things we've got to do over the next months and years.

"We have to get our teeth into the recovery and restoration programme.

"That's going to be done as a system. We can't do that in isolation and certainly we as a CCG play an integral role in holding the ring and making sure that we're conducting the orchestra in terms of all the different moving parts of patient care that will need.

Pathways

"We've still got that big deficit and the system has a deficit. It shouldn't be at the detriment of patient care but we do need to address that.

"We are putting a lot of effort into looking how we do that.

"Not just going for the financial reductions but really focussing on pathways and where we can make a difference that the patients will see a benefit and we can chop out some cost if we can.

"That's the real win-win we are looking for here."

Dr John Pepper, chair of the organisation and a GP in Shrewsbury, said he was also settling into his new role.

He said: "I feel I've got a really good team, the board is full of experienced individuals and there's a good spirit within that team.

"Two organisations have come together and through that process it can be unsettling for staff. They've come together really well and I think there's a real desire to continue the work that was done by the two previous organisations and build upon that.

"The thing that struck me most was the feeling of inclusion from the wider health and social care system.

"For me it's about relationship building at this stage, but also at pace because there's clearly lots on our agenda, lots of important issues."