Chief executive appointed for largest CCG

Birmingham and Solihull CCG is due to be formed on 1 April by a merger of Birmingham CrossCity, Birmingham South Central and Solihull CCGs.

Paul Jennings, currently the interim chief executive of the three CCGs, retired from his last substantive chief executive role, at Gloucestershire Care Services Trust, in January 2017, after 38 years in the NHS. He worked for a long period in the West Midlands including as chief executive of several NHS organisations.

A statement from the CCGs said: “Following a competitive recruitment process, he has now been appointed to the role permanently.

“His immediate focus will be to ensure that – currently working together as Birmingham and Solihull CCGs – fulfil all of the requirements to create the new Birmingham and Solihull CCG from 1 April 2018, which will be the largest CCG in England.”

Mr Jennings said: “This is an exciting time for the NHS in Birmingham and Solihull. We have a great opportunity to make a real difference to the lives of local people. The new CCG will be a large and ambitious organisation with big challenges.

“We have much to do to ensure that we are commissioning high quality and sustainable services for our patients, which address the massive health inequalities across the area.”

Birmingham and Solihull CCG’s nominee clinical chair, Peter Ingham, said: “I am delighted to welcome Paul as the new permanent chief executive of our CCG and look forward to working with him to continue to build strong and mutually beneficial partnerships with our health and social care partners across Birmingham and Solihull.”

Although Birmingham and Solihull will be the single CCG with the largest population, there are some chief officers of multiple CCGs covering a larger population. The North West London CCGs, which are currently recruiting for a joint chief officer, have a total population of 2.4 million; and the population of North East London, whose CCG joint chief officer is Jane Milligan, is 2.1 million.