Fifth CCG could join new regional alliance

Formal discussions on East Surrey CCG joining the alliance, which launched on 2 January, are expected later this month.

The CCG is part of the Sussex and East Surrey sustainability and transformation partnership but also commissions some services with other Surrey CCGs. It falls into Surrey County Council’s patch and three nearby CCGs are involved in a devolution deal with the council and form Surrey Heartlands STP.

A report to East Surrey’s governing body meeting this week suggests that the prospect of joining Surrey Heartlands STP has been ruled out.

Clinical chair Elango Vijaykumar said: “The current feeling among the two STPs, NHS England and the CCG is that the best option is for the organisation to remain in the Sussex and East Surrey STP and join the developing Central Sussex Commissioning Alliance.”

The alliance CCGs are High Weald Lewes Havens, Horsham and Mid Sussex, Crawley, and Brighton and Hove. They have a single accountable officer Adam Doyle.

East Surrey CCG covers a population of 182,000 and has significant financial issues. It is predicting an in year deficit of £23.1m for 2017-18, which is £7.1m more than plan. It already has a £42m accumulated deficit from previous years and has had legal directions since 2015-16.