Healthcare in Cambridgeshire


Healthcare in Cambridgeshire is now the responsibility of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group, which is one of the biggest in the United Kingdom.

History

From 1947 to 1965, NHS services in Cambridgeshire were managed by the East Anglian Regional Hospital Board. In 1974, the boards were abolished and replaced by regional health authorities. Cambridgeshire came under the East Anglian RHA. Regions were reorganised in 1996 and Cambridgeshire came under the Anglia and Oxford Regional Health Authority. Cambridgeshire had an area health authority from 1974 until 1982 when it was divided into three district health authorities: Cambridge, Huntingdon and Peterborough. In 1993 these were reunited. Regional health authorities were reorganised and renamed strategic health authorities in 2002. Cambridgeshire was under the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA. In 2006 regions were again reorganised and Cambridgeshire came under NHS East of England until that was abolished in 2013. There were two primary care trusts for the area: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Sustainability and transformation partnership

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough health and social care commissioners and providers developed a sustainability and transformation plan in March 2016 with Dr Neil Modha, the Chief Clinical Officer of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group as its leader
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group's problems were said by PricewaterhouseCoopers to be "among the broadest and deepest set of issues facing any CCG we have worked with" in June 2018 after it finished 2017-18 with a £42 million deficit.

Commissioning

In 2019 the CCG decided to suspend NHS-funded fertility services indefinitely. Suspending the service in 2018-9 saved the CCG £598,000. The Department of Health and Social Care said the decision not to fund IVF was “not acceptable”. The CCG is facing a deficit of £192 million and is expected to make savings of £33 million in 2019-20. The county is 3.7% below what is considered a fair funding position and this is expected to continue until 2023-24.

Services

Primary care

There are 108 GP practices and 824 GPs in the area. Out-of-hours services are provided by Urgent Care Cambridgeshire.

Community services

was established by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and Cambridge University Hospitals foundation trusts, as a limited liability partnership to manage an £800m integrated older people’s services contract in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. In December 2015 the contract was terminated, as it was agreed by both parties that it was not financially viable. However it appeared that the new model of care would continue without the financial incentives built into the contract.
Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust provides community care and runs Arthur Rank Hospice. East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices runs a hospice at Milton, Cambridgeshire. Sue Ryder runs Thorpe Hall Hospice in Peterborough.

Acute care

, North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are the NHS hospital trusts in the area.

Ambulance services

Ambulance services are provided by the East of England Ambulance Service and Magpas.

Mental health

is the main NHS provider.

HealthWatch

is an organisation set up under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to act as a voice for patients.