Against a backdrop of a very challenging financial position, the CCG has continually improved its performance, achieving a rating of ‘outstanding’ for mental health and ‘good’ for cancer. Improvements have also been made in dementia performance, with more people being diagnosed sooner.
Dr Gina Palumbo, clinical chair of the CCG, said: “this announcement is a positive reflection of the hard work and dedication of all staff working across the East Riding in partnership to improve the health and wellbeing of our residents. In response to changes made to improve access to psychological therapy services and our successful Talking Therapies marketing campaign, more people are receiving treatment for stress and anxiety, with over half of those showing clear signs of recovery and improvement. People with cancer are also being diagnosed at a much earlier stage and it is fantastic that more people are surviving longer.”
With the support of clinicians, patients and partners, the CCG has made great strides in transforming services through driving greater efficiency and improving quality. It ended the financial year with a deficit of £2 million; a much improved position from the £14 million deficit expected part way through the year. One example of this is prescribing activity whereby the CCG has seen a reduction of nearly 1% in costs; this follows two successive years of increasing costs of 4%.
Gina added: “the public have responded brilliantly to our Don’t swallow up your NHS campaign by making small changes that have had a big impact on protecting the NHS such as buying common items, like paracetamol, from a supermarket or chemist and only ordering the medication that they need. Together, we saved more than £1.7 million in prescribing costs alone.”
There is always more that can be done and the CCG will be actively encouraging more people to take ownership of their own health, adopt healthy behaviours and live healthier lifestyles. The CCG is confident that not only will this approach greatly improve the results of any surgery planned in the short term, but it will also help prevent more people from becoming ill in the future.
Members of the public can hear more about the CCG’s achievements during 2016-17 and plans for 2017-18 by attending their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Tuesday, 19 September 2017 from 4.30 pm at The Memorial Hall in Beverley.
