Kent has been given the go-ahead for a giant health shake-up.

NHS England agreed today to let all eight clinical commissioning groups - the bodies which plan and pay for healthcare - merge into a "super" group.

They have been given "conditional approval" to form a single body on April 1 next year.

In a joint statement with Caroline Selkirk, managing director of East Kent CCGs and Dr Bob Bowes, GP and clinical chairman of NHS West Kent CCG, Ian Ayres, the managing director of Swale, Medway, and Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley CCGs, said: "The decision by NHS England and NHS Improvement puts us in a good position to support the development of our local integrated care partnership and primary care networks which are a vital part of improving care for local people.

"We strongly believe that having a single CCG will improve the quality of life and quality of care for our patients and will help people to live their best life.

"It will save time, money and effort, freeing up GP time to see patients and staff and GP time to develop the new ways of working critical for the success of the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System.

"This will see health and care organisations working together much more closely than in the past."

But it could mean redundancies for some staff in the existing CCGs, although there has already been "natural wastage."

The CCGs were launched on April 1, 2013, as part of the 2012 Health and Social Care Act created by the Conservative and Lib-Dem coalition government of David Cameron and Nick Clegg.

The idea was to give GPs more control of healthcare in their areas. The CCGs replaced primary care trusts. In Kent, there were two. But the six-year experiment has failed.

Some of the new CCGs proved too small to function efficiently. Some were forced to merge with neighbours and Swale and DGS, two of the smallest, ended up sharing staff.

The new changes are in line with the NHS Long Term Plan published earlier this year and will keep GPs in charge.

Supporters say one CCG will provide better, more joined-up care for patients and make better use of staff and funds to meet rising demand.

NHS England and NHS Improvement will be part of the recruitment panel for key positions including a new accountable officer.

GPs in each of the existing eight CCGs across Kent and Medway voted to have a single CCG to reduce duplication, save money, aid faster decisions and make it easier to submit bids for national funding and use increased buying power.

They say they will continue to involve residents in shaping health and care services.

The new governing body will be led by a majority of GPs with one from each of the existing CCG areas for at least the first two years. After 2022, the governing body will review how GPs are elected to it to ensure a "fair representation."

For more information visit the Kent and Medway NHS website here.

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