THE organisation responsible for planning and paying for health services in south Worcestershire is celebrating its first year of operation.

South Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Group took over responsibility for health services in the area on April 1 last year after Worcestershire Primary Care Trust was disbanded.

During that time the organisation launched a Better Together scheme increasing patient involvement with services and was nominated for a Health Service Journal Efficiency Award for its programme caring for people coming to the end of their lives.

It was also highly commended for its work to train more than 300 people as community champions and has formed a partnership with the University of Worcester to improve training for students studying medical-related subjects, while remaining in financial balance.

The organisation’s chief clinical lead Dr Carl Ellson said the past 12 months had been extremely challenging for the entire NHS.

"We’ve made great strides over the past year and aim to build on this progress over the coming year," he said.

“We will continue to work with partners across the county to make sure that everyone has access to the best health services possible.

“We are continually looking at better ways of working to make sure that everyone can enjoy the same opportunities for good health.”

For more information visit www.southworcsccg.nhs.uk.