New chair and accountable officer to lead single CCG group in Shropshire
A new chair and accountable officer will lead the organisation responsible for buying NHS healthcare services in the county from April, it has been announced.
David Evans, joint accountable officer for Shropshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Telford and Wrekin CCG, has announced he will soon be taking up a secondment opportunity.
With effect from April 1, Mr Evans will join Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) as projects director.
Dr Julian Povey, on behalf of the CCGs’ governing bodies, is currently leading the search for a new accountable officer to replace Mr Evans for the single commissioning organisation, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin CCG, which will come into being in April.
The two current CCGs will be dissolved for the new single organisation to be formed.
Dr Povey will also be stepping down as chair and Dr John Pepper will be taking up that role for the new organisation.
Mr Evans said it had been an "enormous privilege" to have been a CCG accountable officer for the past eight years.
He said: "However, I feel that with the start of a new CCG it is time to hand over to someone else for the next stage.
“I have worked closely with the CSU throughout and I am looking forward to working with Derek Kitchen and the senior leadership team to shape the strategic direction of the CSU in the next stage of its development.”
Dr Povey said: “On behalf of both governing bodies I would like to thank Dave for his leadership of our organisations.
"Dave led Telford CCG for over eight years and more recently has led NHS Shropshire CCG as well.
"Dave is a friend to many, if not all, in both CCGs.
"He has demonstrated compassion and integrity in leading the local health economy. He will be difficult to replace and very difficult to follow.
“I am now working with Dr John Pepper, the incoming chair, to have a new accountable officer in place for April 1.
"This process is ongoing and we hope to be in a position to announce the appointment soon.”
The plans to form a single CCG which will cover the whole of the county were approved last year by NHS bosses.
Dr Povey said working as two CCGs had led to "duplication and inconsistency".
Speaking at the time, he said: “The key benefit of creating just one single health commissioner to cover the whole county is there will no longer be a ‘postcode lottery’ as to what services you can access depending on whether you live in Shropshire or over in Telford and Wrekin.”
