NHS North East Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has once again been rated Good by NHS England.

This sustains the good rating the CCG has achieved in the last 3 years, despite more rigorous assessment criteria and the many challenges that our local health and care system has had to respond to during the past 12 months.

CCGs are assessed each year against a number of indicators in the CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework (IAF) and given a headline rating. The CCG has been consistently rated good since 2016/17.

The CCG has also received the highest possible rating (Green Star) for the way it involves the local community in important decision making.

NHS England noted that the CCG has demonstrated effective leadership in the past 12 months across a range of areas including continued integration work with the Council, development of the Integrated Care Partnership, further development of primary care, continued efforts around demand management and closer working with neighbouring CCGs in working through some challenges around planned and unplanned care in the local hospital trust.

Rob Walsh, Chief Executive, NHS North East Lincolnshire CCG, said, “Much of the change being driven nationally towards a more engaged relationship with patients, carers and citizens has been deeply embedded here in North East Lincolnshire for a considerable time. We are justifiably proud of the level of involvement local people have in the planning, delivery and evaluation of health and care services.

“It’s no secret organisations like the CCG are operating in challenging times but difficult times produce real partnership, the need for innovation and as a result, improved ways of doing what we do for the benefit of local people. We are delighted our focus on making improvements for local people continues to be recognised.

“I pay tribute to our staff, governing body, council of members and community forum for their commitment, ambition and collective focus on improving the health and wellbeing of local people and service users.”

While there are still some local areas of concern, particularly in reference to cancer diagnoses, this year has seen improvements there with an almost 50 per cent reduction in the number of people waiting more than 62 days to start their first treatment following an urgent GP referral for suspected cancer. Extra funding from NHS England has also supported additional outpatient appointments and scans. The CCG aims to focus on earlier diagnosis to shift the trend away from late presentations and improve outcomes for patients.

CCG Chair Mark Webb added that achieving this rating once again was the result of a great deal of commitment from everyone involved.

“I would like to thank everyone at the CCG and our partners in the local health and care system for their continued hard work and dedication,” said Mr Webb.

The IAF ratings for CCGs are published on the NHS website at https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/ccg-annual-assessment-report-2018-19/

You can find more information about the performance of CCGs on the My NHS Website