Healthcare in the West Midlands is now the responsibility of seven Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG): Birmingham CrossCity; Birmingham South Central; Sandwell and West Birmingham; Solihull; Dudley; Wolverhampton; and Walsall.
Contents
History
From 1947 to 1974 NHS services in the West Midlands were managed by the Birmingham Regional Hospital Board. In 1974 the Boards were abolished and replaced by Regional Health Authorities. The West Midlands still came under the Birmingham RHA. Regions were reorganised in 1996 and the area came under the West Midlands Regional Health Authority. From 1974 there were 6 Area Health Authorities covering North, South, East, West and Central Birmingham, together with authorities covering Dudley, Sandwell, Coventry, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton. There were seven District Authorities, one covering each borough. In 1992-4 Birmingham was reorganised into North and South districts. 13 Primary care trusts were established in the county in 2002: Coventry Teaching PCT, Eastern Birmingham PCT, North Birmingham PCT, Heart of Birmingham Teaching PCT, Solihull Care Trust, South Birmingham PCT, Dudley Beacon & Castle PCT and Dudley South PCT, Oldbury & Smethwick PCT, Rowley Regis & Tipton PCT and Wednesbury & West Bromwich PCT, Walsall Teaching PCT and Wolverhampton City PCT. They were merged into 9 in 2006. They were managed by the Birmingham and The Black Country Strategic health authority (apart from Coventry, which was under West Midlands South). From 2006 they were all managed by NHS West Midlands.
In March 2016 Mark Rogers, Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council was appointed the leader of the Birmingham and Solihull Sustainability and transformation plan footprint. Andy Williams, the Accountable Officer of Sandwell West Birmingham CCG, was appointed the leader of the Black Country STP, and Andy Hardy, the Chief Executive of University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust the leader of the Coventry and Warwickshire STP.
Commissioning
The Clinical commissioning groups took on the responsibilities of the former PCTs on 1 April 2013.
Primary care
Out-of-hours services are provided by Birmingham & District General Practitioner Emergency Rooms in Birmingham, Solihull and Walsall. Nestor Primecare Services Limited provides these services in Dudley, Sandwell, Heart of Birmingham, South Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
In 2015, the medical journal, Pulse reported that doctors in some English areas, notably South Birmingham are paid to limit hospital referrals. The payments include limiting referrals for cancer patients. The scheme is controversial and some members of the British Medical Association fear it could affect patient care adversely. GMC guidelines forbid doctors to receive, "inducement, gift or hospitality" which influences or can be seen as influencing the way patients are treated or referred. There is concern the payments could affect doctor patient trust.
A multispecialty community provider is being developed by Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group. It will include all the GP practices in the borough, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, and Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Our Health Partnership plans to be the single largest provider of primary care services in the UK.
Hospital provision
Hospitals trusts in the region are:
Mental health
NHS mental health services are provided by Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust and Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.
The Forward Thinking Birmingham consortium has been selected to deliver a new combined mental health service for people aged 0–25 across the city of Birmingham from October 2015. The consortium is led by Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and includes Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, the Priory Group, Beacon UK, and The Children's Society. The 5 year contract has an annual value of £23.7m. It will result in the mental health trust losing £14.2m a year. An independent impact assessment recommended delayed implementation and “bridging funding” of at least £1.5m to enable the safe transition of some adult services.
Community services
Stephen Dorrell will chair an independent board which will advise and oversee the partnership between health and social services in the Birmingham and Solihull Sustainability and transformation plan as it develops over the next five years.
All Together Better Dudley, a Multispecialty community provider, has set up teams including social care, district health and practice based pharmacists which include voluntary sector link workers. This has reduced GP visits among the targetted patients.