CCGs appoint joint accountable officer to cover entire county

Marcus Warnes was already accountable officer for North Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent CCGs.

He took over the same role at Cannock Chase, South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula, Stafford and Surrounds CCGs last month.

Mr Warnes will become accountable officer for a sixth CCG, East Staffordshire, when current Tony Bruce steps down in March 2018.

The Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent sustainability transformation partnership, which the six CCGs are a part of, faces significant financial challenges and is one of the 14 areas in the national capped expenditure process.

HSJ also recently reported East Staffordshire CCG is in a dispute with Virgin Care over its £270m prime provider contact.

In a statement, the six CCG chairs said: “Marcus has been an integral leader in developing improved processes to commission services across Staffordshire. As on several key aspects of the STP he has worked tirelessly to join up the local health economy with partner and provider organisations.

“We would like to reassure residents that each CCG will retain its own legal status, ensuring decisions are locally led.”

Mr Warnes said: “I am really pleased to have been appointed and looking forward to the exciting challenge of aligning our commissioning and leadership decisions across the CCGs.”