Jonathan has written to Marcus Warnes (Accountable Officer for the six Staffordshire CCGs) about his concerns over the proposed merger of Staffordshire’s six clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Having read an article in the Stoke Sentinel over the proposal, Jonathan believes Cllr Dave Evans raised valid points about the importance of retaining a local focus in the delivery of healthcare.
Jonathan said, "The purpose of CCGs were to ensure people had local health professionals providing services for the needs of the their local area. By merging into a county wide CCG, I fear we will see local clinical voices diluted. The health needs of the people in Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke are unique to each area, and being a former industrial city, the health needs here are different to that across Staffordshire. I hope this is taken into careful consideration before any merger is confirmed."
