NHS leaders have been preparing for new ways of providing health and care services in Tameside and Glossop from Friday (1 July).

The way health services are bought and planned on behalf of Tameside and Glossop are changing nationally in line with the new Health and Care Act 2022, which aims to improve joined-up care for people who rely on a number of different services at the same time.

As part of this, Tameside will move into the newly formed NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, and Glossop will move into Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care.

NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care brings together staff from all 10 Greater Manchester clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) – including Tameside – as well as Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership and Greater Manchester Shared Services, which will all disband on Friday 1 July. 

It will be at the heart of a wider partnership called Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership which involves all the different organisations that support the health and social care of residents across the city region. These include NHS organisations, Councils, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) colleagues and other key partners.

It also means there will be a local integrated care partnership in each of the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs – in Tameside this will be called NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care (Tameside) – that brings the same partners together within the borough to ensure Tameside residents get the best possible services.

Health bosses say the partnership will help organisations work better with the public to keep everyone healthier; plan and deliver health services more effectively; make sure everyone is treated equally and fairly; help the NHS become as efficient as possible, and also help it contribute to the wider economy.

Drs Asad Ali and Ashwin Ramachandra, outgoing chairpersons of NHS Tameside and Glossop CCG, said: “This week, we marked the occasion by celebrating all that we have achieved over the past few years, and we will ensure this strong legacy is taken into the new NHS organisation and we will continue to integrate care locally through the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care (Tameside).

“In 2016, we created a single commissioning function – integrating health and social care services to work as one team with one decision making process, to improve quality, as well as efficiency, clearly setting out our vision, outcomes and commissioning priorities for residents.  We are enormously proud of all our staff who have worked hard on the future of health and social care services.

“As we prepare to move on to the next stage in our journey, our aim is healthier lives and better health and social care services for all our residents across Tameside and Glossop and we will work closely with our public in order to do this. The GP practices and primary care networks across our borough will continue to form the cornerstone of local health and care in Tameside and Glossop.

“We have achieved a lot as a CCG and we pledge to continue building on this work as we move into this exciting new phase.

“Our patients will not see any difference in their care as they will continue to be supported by the same healthcare professionals in the same places and they will have the same choices."

As part of the changes, users of the CCG's website will be redirected to Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership’s new website which will offer more information on the aims and new ways of working for health and care in the city region. Patients will still be able to access information and help about their local services.

Clinical commissioning groups were/are NHS organisations set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 following the 2010 White Paper, ‘Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS’ which stated the Government’s desire to create a health and care system that has the patient’s needs at its heart.

The 10 Greater Manchester CCGs were formed between 2012 and 2013 and replaced primary care trusts (PCTs). They were led by GPs and clinicians whose experience in patient care helped to develop and deliver effective services for the public.

Sir Richard Leese, chairperson of NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care, said: “This is a significant step forward for how we ensure the people we serve across the whole of Greater Manchester get equal access to the best possible health and care services.

“Thanks to the devolution arrangements given to our city region, we have already built a strong foundation of true partnership working and our teams will be no strangers to working together for the benefit of our people.

“Our aims for the next few months will be ensure the integration of our neighbourhood teams, improve mental health services, support our GP practices, ensure people have access to urgent and emergency care, and reduce inequalities.

“These are just some of the things which we in the NHS, and our partners, do to help all of us live the best lives we can.”

Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership is one of 42 integrated care systems being established across England on a statutory basis on July 1 following recommendations from NHS England and NHS Improvement and Royal Assent of the Health and Care Act (2022).

More information can be found on the Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership website at http://www.gmintegratedcare.org.uk/ and on the Joined Up Care Derbyshire website at https://joinedupcarederbyshire.co.uk/about/what-is-jucd/glossop