East Midlands CCG receives national recognition

NHS Erewash Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), which is responsible for the care of more than 96,000 patients in Ilkeston, Long Eaton and surrounding villages, has been shortlisted for two national awards, Improving Community Care by Redesigning Services, and Engaging the Public and Stakeholders.

The short-listings were made by Health Services Journal, and CCG officials will travel to London on Friday 11 October to make a presentation to expert judges and to answer questions. The winners will then be announced during a ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Tuesday 19 November.

The short-listing for the community care award recognised how health professionals had worked with Derbyshire County Council social care and others to provide integrated care that kept patients out of hospital and enabled them to be treated at or near home.

The service is provided by six community delivery teams that include GPs, community matrons, social care officers, mental health officers and other health workers. It has a single point of access for GPs and other referrers, meaning that they have to make only one referral per patient, knowing that onward referrals and appropriate care will then be triggered.

Since the service went live in November 2012, there have been more than 1,800 referrals while the emergency admission of relevant patients has fallen by 61 per cent. Reduced admissions and more efficient co-ordination of care have enabled the CCG to make a net saving of more than £1.4million since the service was launched while patient care has improved significantly.

The integrated service was set up in response to factors including population projections which showed that 27.5 percent of the Erewash population would be over 65 by 2033.

The short listing for the engaging the public award recognised the CCG’s appointment of lay members and Healthwatch patient representatives to its governing body to find out how communities thought health inequalities should be tackled.

Board members were drawn from various professions, roles and backgrounds, ensuring vast experience in agreeing health priorities. The CCG had also brought in the East Midlands Leadership Academy to provide a training and development programme for members, health professionals and managers.