THE NHS organisation responsible for making sure the right health services are available in Brighton and Hove has been given a rating of good in an annual assessment.

Last year Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was branded inadequate by NHS England but has made several improvements over the last 12 months.

It was placed in legal restrictions as a result, giving it less of a say in how it commissions services.

Every CCG in the country is given an annual check and rated either outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate.

The changes at the organisation followed the appointment of David Supple as the new clinical chairman and Adam Doyle as the new accountable officer.

Improvements have included restructuring the clinical leadership, improving engagement with GPs and starting work to improve staff morale.

The changes have coincided with significant improvements to the CCG’s performance against national standards.

These have included reductions in waiting times for treatment and improved access to urgent care.

Mr Doyle said: “This is testament to the hard work and commitment of everyone working at the CCG and all our partners across the local health system and I would like to thank them all for their continued efforts.

“It is been no means easy and has not happened by accident - it has needed a huge collective team effort right across the board.

“We know we still have work to do to get to where we want to be.

“Our focus now will be on building on the work we have done to continue our journey of improvement.

“The next step is to work towards taking the organisation out of legal directions and, although this will take more hard work to achieve, I am confident we can keep progressing to make it happen.”

As part of the ‘good’ rating, NHS England highlighted the improvements made by the CCG in reducing patient waiting times for treatment and urgent care, while achieving financial stability.