City region to appoint first health commissioner

Greater Manchester is set to appoint its first regional health commissioner.

Along with South Yorkshire, it will become the first area in England to hire one as part of a government pilot designed to "shift local decision-making out of Whitehall" and tackle regional health inequalities.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, commissioners will work closely with local councils, health providers and community services. They will ultimately report both to Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting and their regional mayor.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester following the announcement, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said it was "great news" for the city region.

• The appointment of a health commissioner in Greater Manchester means the region's local authorities will have more responsibility and power over public health decisions

• Burnham said the commissioner would be responsible for improving healthcare in Greater Manchester and adopt a "preventative" approach designed to help people lead longer and healthier lives

• Wes Streeting said the new regional health commissioners would become "like deputy mayors for health", working both with himself as Health Secretary and with their respective regional mayor

• Streeting said the mayors would "take responsibility for driving improvements to health and care from cradle to grave", testing whether this new model is more effective than everything being led by the NHS

• NHS England will appoint a new chair who will also serve as the Mayor's Health Commissioner in Greater Manchester

• The commissioner will work closely with local councils, health providers and community services

• According to the government, this will ensure decisions will be made by those who best understand their local communities, improving co-ordination and making services more responsive to local needs

• The government said the trial was part of plans to end the "NHS postcode lottery" in which the quality of care can vary between areas

Burnham said: "Now we have the potential to get back on track and go even further, creating the right conditions for everyone to live healthier lives.

"A health commissioner will help us pioneer a radical new way of delivering public services that's better for our communities and better for the public purse.

"We're working with government on making Greater Manchester the blueprint for prevention.

"For too long our public services have been trapped in short-term cycles of costly crisis intervention.

"We want to show that investing in early help is a more effective way of spending public money - providing support to improve people's lives and prevent them falling into crisis in the first place."

Applications for the regional health commissioner role in Greater Manchester are now open.

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