AT this week’s meeting (Monday 3 July) of the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee, councillors heard from the transformation lead for Basildon and Thurrock, Southend and Broomfield hospitals about plans to transform medical services in the borough.
In a wide-ranging discussion, members received an update regarding the NHS Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STPs) as well as plans for Integrated Medical Centres.
Concerns were raised about a new body to commission services across the five Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in mid and south Essex.
The proposed CCG Joint Committee plans to lead on commissioning services including acute care and NHS 111, as well as services for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems.
Speaking after the meeting, Committee Chair, Cllr Graham Snell, said: “While we accept there is a need to commission services at scale which can cover the whole area, I am worried that a ‘CCG by committee’ could undermine the local relationship between the council and Thurrock CCG.”
The committee were also given assurances that clinical services would only be transferred from Orsett Hospital if and when they were in place in another location within Thurrock.
Cllr Snell added: “This assurance will be very much welcomed by residents. We all want excellent local services when and where people need to access them.
“The committee were also happy to support the council taking forward plans for Integrated Medical Centres – purpose built facilities which will not only provide medical care in the community, but also services which have a direct impact on the health of residents such as social care, employment and housing.”
Isn’t there a danger that the proposed CCG Joint Committee will just become another Primary Care Trust type of organisation, the exact type of organisation that the CCGs were meant to replace as part of the top-down reorganisation of the NHS instigated by the Tory-led Coalition that no one wanted in the first place?