The NHS organisation in charge of commissioning health services in Brighton and Hove has been rated “inadequate”.
It is one of 26 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to have been rated inadequate by NHS England as part of a new annual ratings system.
A further 91 have been rated “requires improvement”, 82 “good” and 10 “outstanding” based on their 2015-16 performance.
NHS England said that the “headline assessment” was based on five elements: leadership, planning, finance, performance and delegated functions.
Brighton and Hove CCG chief operating officer Christa Beesley said in a statement: “We are disappointed to receive this assurance rating from NHS England although we fully appreciate that the long waits being faced by patients for treatment in some specialties, including A&E, at our local acute hospital trust means that we cannot meet the NHS standards that our patients should expect.
“While waits have built up in many parts of the NHS over the last year, this is a particularly bad situation locally for patients and the staff involved in their treatment and one which we are keen to improve.”
Dr Beesley said: “The CCG is continuing to work closely with the trust’s management team and clinicians to support recovery plans as well as with social care, GP and community services to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and safely support patients home without delay when they no longer need a hospital bed.
“We have also taken the lead on work with neighbouring CCGs to offer non-emergency treatment at alternative hospitals for patients facing long waits for appointments within some of the trust’s clinical specialities.
“Developing even more out-of-hospital care and support for people in their local communities is also a key part of the collaborative work we are doing with CCGs and partner organisations across Sussex and East Surrey as part of the national NHS Sustainability and Transformation planning process.
“It is of note that despite the increasing pressures on NHS services, our CCG’s member GP practices have not, on average, been sending greater numbers of patients to hospital over the last year and that fewer emergency patients have had to be admitted to hospital.
“Our CCG has maintained a tight control over its finances and this is helping us to support the clinical change that is needed to cope with the long term increased demand for NHS services as well as the increased number of treatments that we must fund this year in order to help patients who are on our hospital’s waiting lists.
“On the issue of leadership, we are pleased that it has been acknowledged within the assurance process that the CCG has a stronger, more resilient leadership team in place.
“While our clinical chair and clinical accountable officer will be leaving this autumn, we intend to ensure that this leadership team is sustained.
“In particular, the CCG is clear that it needs to maintain strong clinical leadership. We have recently appointed a third GP locality chair in the city and recruitment for a new CCG chair and chief of clinical engagement is under way.
“We are working with NHS England to build on existing plans that address both system-wide performance issues and actions developed following the independent capacity and capability review commissioned by the CCG earlier this year.
“These plans include a commitment to ensuring we have adequate clinical leadership across the CCG and the wider system as well as building on joint commissioning arrangements with Brighton and Hove City Council.
“All significant programmes of work have clinical leads aligned to them and a CCG office move to Hove Town Hall is being planned for the autumn.
“Our emerging clinical strategy brings together existing local plans into an overarching transformation manifesto for our city’s health and care system over the next five years.
“It sets out our ambition for delivering high quality and sustainable hospital, GP and community services by 2020-21 as well as improved public health outcomes, reduced inequalities and more personalised care and support to enable people to stay well out of hospital and to manage their own health and wellbeing.
“It is very satisfying to see some of the changes and achievements made by the CCG this year to support system-wide integration recognised in NHS England’s annual assessment.
“The establishment of GP practice clusters and locally commissioned services to improve cancer and other public health outcomes are important first steps in a complex five-year programme of work that we hope will address local performance issues, health outcomes and inequalities in the long term.”
NHS England is asking the Brighton and Hove CCG to develop and implement a performance improvement plan.
Next year CCGs will be rated in 29 areas, including cancer, dementia, diabetes, learning disabilities, maternity and mental health. The ratings are expected to be underpinned by 60 indicators.
