Health body ranked as "inadequate" amid financial concerns

THE body in charge of overseeing Solihull's GP surgeries has been given four weeks to turn its performance around, amid concerns about a gaping hole in its finances.
Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been ranked "inadequate" overall, following an assessment of its performance in 2016/17 by officials at NHS England.
While some specific services performed well - cancer care was rated "outstanding" and mental health "good" - its overall ranking was rather poorer. The CCG has suggested that its "challenging financial position" was the reason for this.
In a statement last week, the organisation said it had been working on a plan to shore up its finances since the start of 2017. There has already been talk of Solihull CCG merging with Birmingham, with a view that pooling resources and expertise would make for a more efficient organisation.
Now however, NHS England has directly intervened and given the CCG four weeks [dating from August 17] to produce an effective plan to ensure it operates within its budget in this financial year.
Instructions have also been given to appoint a permanent chief finance officer, who will play a key role in ensuring that the books are balanced.
Solihull CCG said: "[We] will continue to work hard to deliver against our £18million savings target; we do not believe that this will adversely impact upon the current services being provided to patients.
"We are committed to putting in place a strong and detailed integration plan, working closely with our local authority and health partners in Solihull and Birmingham."
CCGs were introduced in 2013 as part of a controversial reorganisation of the NHS. The GP-led bodies were given substantial control over the budgets for providing services, which the Government said would improve quality of care and give more freedom to practitioners on the front-line.
But two years later, the King's Fund think tank was highly critical of the changes, arguing they had distracted from patient care and led to declining performance.