TWO of the region’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have been rated as inadequate in NHS England performance ratings.

NHS South Tees CCG, which is responsible for buying and planning NHS services, including hospital and community care, for 293,000 people living in Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland, confirmed it had now been placed in special measures.

This means it will have to draw up a financial recovery plan and notify health chiefs should it wish to make any senior appointments.

As at the end of March this year it had a deficit of just over £8m, which is expected to grow by a further £5m next year.

NHS Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby CCG finds itself in a similar boat, also rated as inadequate after it too recorded a multi-million pound deficit.

Elsewhere Darlington CCG, Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield CCG and North Durham CCG are rated as ‘good’ and NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG ‘outstanding’.

South Tees CCG said it had been experiencing significant financial pressure and for the first time since its inception in 2013 it had recorded a deficit.

It blamed this on a doubling of costs associated with free social care it is required to provide for people with long-term complex health needs, which now costs £36m.

Prescriptions costs in the area were costing £4m more a year than the North-East average – the CCG now prescribing more than seven million items a year.

And it had also spent £2m more on planned and urgent care in hospital settings than in previous years.

Dr Janet Walker, chairman of NHS South Tees Clinical Commissioning Group, said: “Whilst we are disappointed with the CCG’s assurance rating and being placed in special measures, we are absolutely determined to work with NHS England to respond to the requirements of special measures and to take the necessary steps to get back on track.

“We have been working diligently within the CCG to turnaround our financial position and will continue to do this alongside our partners in the health and social care system.

“We will work hard to ensure that we continue to commission services on behalf of the people in Middlesbrough and Redcar and Cleveland that are good quality, safe and provide value for money.”

Dr Walker said it had to make some “bold, but difficult” decisions around local services, for example replacing walk-in centres with GP ‘hubs’.

She also said that in the past five years it had a strong track record of success, making huge strides in improving access to diagnosis and treatment services.

Middlesbrough MP Andy McDonald said: “It is hugely disappointing and concerning to hear that South Tees CCG has been placed into special measure by NHS England.

“Clearly urgent attention will have to be paid to any areas where there are inefficiencies and any waste but that cannot mask the dire underfunding of the NHS in recent years.”

Redcar MP Anna Turley said: “This news raises some serious questions about whether local health services are able to cope with the massive funding pressures they are under. "The NHS has been starved of investment by the government over several years now, at the same time as it is has faced rising demand and rising costs of treatment.

“It is no surprise that the South Tees area has been left with a huge deficit when there has not been enough money to meet the health needs of our communities.

"Our population is ageing, high levels of poverty brings with it additional health demands, social care is under strain, and mental health services are oversubscribed.

“Management will now be centralised and I am concerned this will lead to even longer waiting times and cancelled appointments as civil servants look to balance the budget. "What they should be doing is recognising the specific needs of our area and funding services properly.”

Cllr David Walsh, cabinet member for adult services at Redcar and Cleveland Council, added: “The CCG is being punished for having an overspend, but that’s simply down to the fact that there are deep patterns of ill health on Teesside.

“From my perspective, the CCG is a key and very valued partner in running joint NHS and local authority social care programmes designed to tackle bed occupancy in hospital.

“It is crucial that these are not targeted for cash cuts by the people who will now be overseeing the CCG.”