Primary care in the Eastern region

Sharing news and views

Welcome to the Eastern region primary care and public health webpage. Many of the current health service reforms are focused on primary and community care. 

This page will keep you up to date with new developments in primary care in the Eastern region. 

Community provider organisations in the Eastern Region have developed in the following ways:

Social enterprises

  • Great Yarmouth and Waveney is now called East Coast Community Healthcare CIC and is a community interest company.
  • NE Essex Community Services in now called Anglia Community Services (ACE) and is a community interest company.
  • Mid Essex Community Services is now called Central Essex Community Services (CECS) and is a community interest company.
  • Please find further information on social enterprises.

Integration with foundation trusts

  • West Essex, South East Essex and Bedfordshire Community Services are now part of South Essex Partnership Trust.
  • South West Essex Community Services are being hosted by North East London Mental Health Trust for two years.

Suffolk Community Services

Serco is the preferred provider for community services in Suffolk. Children's services are already hosted by Suffolk County Council. It is anticipated that staff will transfer to Serco in October 2012.

Commissioning

The NHS Commissioning Board Special Health Authority was established in October 2011, and it will have a key role in the authorisation of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). Further information can be found on the commissioning board website. The Strategic Health Authority cluster Midlands and Eastern will evolve into a local outpost of the national NHS commissioning board.

NHS Local Area Teams

To support the NHS Commissioning board local area teams are being developed to take over from PCT clusters when they are abolished next year. Their role will be CCG development and assurance, emergency planning, system oversight and some direct commissioning such as GP and dental services and specialist commissioning. Recruitment to these teams will begin in July.

There will be three local area teams in Eastern:

  • East Anglia - covering Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, Norfolk and Great Yarmouth & Waveney and Suffolk.
  • Essex
  • Hertfordshire & South Midlands - Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes.

Health and wellbeing boards

Health and Wellbeing Boards will be based in local Government and will be a forum for key leaders from the health and care system to work together to improve the health and wellbeing of their local population and reduce health inequalities. They will bring together a strategic influence over commissioning decisions about healthcare, public health and social care. They will be made up of local councillors, representatives from Healthwatch, the new public engagement forums, representatives of clinical commissioning groups, the directors of Adult and Children's Social Services and the Director of Public Health. Further information see A short guide to health and well being boards. In Eastern there are 10 Health & Wellbeing boards. To find details of the one in your area go to your County Council or Unitary Council website.

Clinical commissioning groups

There are currently 19 proposed CCGs in Eastern, this number could change as they start to go through the authorisation process.

Eastern Region CCGs
  • NHS Basildon & Brentwood - Wave 4 November 2012
  • NHS Bedfordshire - Wave 1 July 2012
  • NHS Cambs & Peterborough - Wave 2 September 2012
  • NHS Castlepoint & Rochford - Wave 4 November 2012
  • NHS East & North Hertfordshire - Wave 1 July 2012
  • NHS Great Yarmouth & Waveney - Wave 1 July 2012
  • NHS Herts Valleys - Wave 2 September 2012
  • NHS Ipswich & East Suffolk - Wave 4 November 2012
  • NHS Luton - Wave 3 October 2012
  • NHS West Suffolk - Wave 4 November 2012
  • NHS Mid Essex - Wave 3 October 2012
  • NHS North East Essex - Wave 2 September 2012
  • NHS North Norfolk - Wave 3 October 2012
  • NHS Norwich - Wave 3 October 2012
  • NHS South Norfolk - Wave 3 October 2012
  • NHS Southend  - Wave 4 November 2012
  • NHS Thurrock - Wave 4 November 2012
  • NHS West Essex - Wave 3 October 2012
  • NHS West Norfolk - Wave 3 October 2012

The proposed CCGs will be authorised in four waves. If a CCG is not sufficiently developed to be authorised, the NHS Commissioning Board will maintain responsibility for commissioning in that area. PCT clusters were abolished at the end of March 2013.

Nursing and the CCGs

There should be a nurse on each clinical commissioning group board, it is important that this nurse has the right skills and competencies for the role and is not seen as a 'token nurse' on the board. The RCN is monitoring the situation closely and CCGs are starting to appoint nurses to this important role.

Commissioning support services

Clinical Commissioning Groups will need support to enable them to function. This support includes many of the services that PCT clusters provide such as human resources, statistical analysis of data and contract management. Many PCT clusters are developing organisations to deliver these commissioning support functions, staff are being transferred from PCT clusters to these new evolving organisations. CCGs can purchase support services from any of these new organisations or from the independent sector. It is anticipated that some of these commissioning support organisations may become social enterprises in the future; they will have to be commercially viable and competitive.