By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
A new NHS body has been established to deliver healthcare for over a million residents in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.
The Integrated Care Board (ICB) has taken over the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) with a new integrated approach to improving the health of people across the county.
The ICB replaces the CCGs which previously covered Nottingham, Nottinghamshire and Bassetlaw.
The body will see NHS hospitals, GPs and community services come together to join up services and improve people’s health as well as treat illnesses.
An NHS executive will be formed of leaders from across health and care in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, to make decisions about how to spend the NHS budget.
These decisions will be jointly made by doctors, nurses and managers from NHS organisations and the local councils.
The first meeting of the board was held on July 1 2022, at the ICB’s new headquarters at Sir John Robinson House, which is used as Nottinghamshire County Council offices.
Chair of the board Dr Kathy McLean said it is an “important day in the history of health and care”.
She said: “This is a historic moment and one I truly welcome.
“I feel as if I’ve been waiting 20 years for this opportunity to bring together partners with an absolute focus on improving our population’s health.
“The inequalities we have at the moment in this area are shameful in my view.
“Forty years in the NHS and we have these huge gaps and inequities in outcomes.
“I am very excited and delighted with the team we have around us.
“We know we are at a particularly challenging time with cost of living rises and we will begin our work in that context.”
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service after the meeting: “This has to work because I can’t think of what other alternative there might be.
“None of the things before have worked as well as we needed them to.”
Chief Executive Amanda Sullivan added that as part of the new system, care will be planned together as a “joined up package”.
She said traditionally, for a child or adult with complex needs, health services and local government would deal with that person separately.
The ICB will also work more closely with the police, volunteering groups and charities.
She said: “I’ll do everything I possibly can to harness our collective talents to make a noticeable difference for the people that we serve.
“We must be ambitious for the people that live in our area.”
The ICB will be regulated by NHS England.
