'Phenomenal achievement' as Brighton and Hove health commissioners rated 'good'

Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has made 'significant' improvements since its last inspection 12 months ago, when it was found to be ‘inadequate’.

Last year, NHS England placed the organisation in ‘legal directions’ after it was deemed to be 'failing to discharge its functions', which means the CCG had less control over decisions to commission services for patients.

In October last year, Dr David Supple was elected as the new clinical chairman and Adam Doyle was appointed as the new accountable officer.

Since then improvements were made in a number of areas, including undertaking a full governance review, restructuring the clinical leadership, improving engagement with member GPs and starting work to improve staff morale.

The CCG’s performance against national standards, including reductions in waiting times for treatment and improved access to urgent care are also said to have improved.

And the oraginsation ended the last financial year with a balanced budget.

The CCG said it has moved from being one of the poorest performing CCGs nationally to one of the most improved in the country in less than a year.

Accountable officer Adam Doyle said: “This is testament to the hard work and commitment of everyone working at the CCG and all our partners across the local health system and I would like to thank them all for their continued efforts. It is been no means easy and has not happened by accident - it has needed a huge collective team effort right across the board.

“We know we still have work to do, however, to get to where we want to be and our focus now will be on building on the work we have done to continue our journey of improvement.The next step is to work towards taking the organisation out of legal directions and, although this will take more hard work to achieve, I am confident we can keep progressing to make it happen.”

Clinical chairman Dr David Supple said: “When you consider where the organisation was not so long ago, to be rated as good is a phenomenal achievement and would not have been possible without the clear direction, focus and leadership that Adam and his executive team have brought to the organisation. I would like to give particular thanks to them for their continued hard work and also show my appreciation for the contribution of everyone who has played their part.

“Most importantly, this is not just about improvements we have made within the organisation. We are confident that the work that has been done will result in significant improvements to the care provided to patients and their experience of health and care across Brighton and Hove, which is extremely positive for everyone.”