Major changes to our region’s NHS will ‘affect’ the employment of 60-70 people, it was revealed last night.
Currently, the NHS in Cheshire and Merseyside is split into nine Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which plan and buy healthcare services for their local areas.
Under this proposal, the more than 2.5m residents of the nine boroughs which make up Cheshire and Merseyside will have their healthcare services commissioned by just one authority.
If approved, the change could be in place by April 2022.
At a Wirral Council committee meeting last night, Simon Banks, chief officer of NHS Wirral CCG, said the move will affect between 60 and 70 people in terms of future employment.
The chief officer did not elaborate on specifically what the impact on jobs may be with many decisions still to be made at this stage, but he did say that safeguards will be in place to protect the staff members affected.
It is hoped that consolidating the different commissioning groups into one will help the NHS to share ideas across the region, tackle health inequalities and improve the lives of the poorest fastest.
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But several councillors scorned the proposal.
Cllr Mike Sullivan, an Independent, said it filled him with horror as it was another attempt by the government to reduce the democratic role of local councils in scrutinising local NHS services.
He added that the committee was “practically powerless” to stop these changes and argued that the NHS has not been sufficiently funded since 2010.
Labour councillor Christina Muspratt said what was being proposed was “horrific” and meant the NHS was moving further away from those who use its services, making it harder for them to get their views across.
Mr Banks acknowledged that the nine boroughs of Cheshire and Merseyside had very distinct needs, given the differences in wealth and health across the region, and made a commitment to fully involve Wirral Council in the reorganisation process locally going forward.
Conservative councillor Lesley Rennie asked for future reports on this subject to use less jargon, saying it would help local people to understand the changes and have their say on them.
