NHS reforms are creating confusion, says health chief (From Worcester News)

NHS reforms are creating confusion, says health chief

12:10pm Sunday 4th November 2012 in Worcester

A HEALTH boss has spoken of the confusion caused by national reforms of the NHS.

Stewart Messer, chief operating officer for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, explained the confusion caused by reforms of the NHS which involve giving control of NHS budgets to groups of GPs called ‘clinical commissioning groups’.

The three CCGs in Worcestershire are in the process of taking over the management of budgets from NHS Worcestershire, the primary care trust which holds the purse strings for healthcare at the moment.

Mr Messer, speaking at a board meeting at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, said: “We were working with one set of people and now we’re having to work with three sets of people which I’m sure everyone can understand is creating some problems.”

CCGs are scheduled to assume formal health commissioning responsibilities by April 2013.