NHS Midlands and East

NHS Midlands and East
Name	NHS Midlands and East
Formation	2011
Predecessor	East of England Strategic Health Authority; West Midlands Strategic Health Authority
Dissolved	2013
Type	Strategic health authority
Headquarters	Birmingham
Region served	Midlands and East of England
Leader title	Chair
Leader title2	Chief Executive
Parent organisation	National Health Service

NHS Midlands and East NHS Midlands and East was a strategic health authority covering West Midlands and the East of England from 2011 until its dissolution in 2013. It succeeded the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority and the East of England Strategic Health Authority as part of a reorganisation linked to the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The body oversaw commissioning, performance management and service transformation across a diverse area including Birmingham, Cambridge, Nottingham, Leicester and Norwich.

History

Formed in 2011, NHS Midlands and East followed a series of reorganisations that involved Department of Health direction and earlier arrangements such as the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 reforms, the establishment of primary care trusts and the creation of strategic health authorities after NHS Plan 2000. Its brief existence intersected with debates around the Andrew Lansley policy changes embodied in the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the dissolution of strategic health authorities and the transfer of commissioning responsibilities to Clinical Commissioning Groups and NHS England. The authority operated during interactions with local bodies including county councils such as Derbyshire County Council and municipal health systems in cities like Coventry.

Organisation and governance

Governance structures drew on models used by earlier SHAs such as the Midlands and East SHA predecessor bodies and mirrored corporate arrangements found in other public bodies like Monitor (NHS) and NHS Trust Development Authority. Leadership reported to ministers in the Department of Health and coordinated with NHS England regional teams. The executive engaged with stakeholders including Clinical Commissioning Group chairs, foundation trust executives from organisations such as University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, and local authority leaders from councils like Cambridgeshire County Council and Norfolk County Council. Advisory links included national regulators comparable to Care Quality Commission processes and strategic alignment with programmes initiated by Public Health England.

Functions and responsibilities

Its remit included strategic oversight of commissioning similar to functions previously carried out by bodies like other SHAs, performance management of acute providers such as Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and planning for specialised services akin to those contracted by NHS Blood and Transplant. Responsibilities involved workforce planning in coordination with organisations such as Health Education England and capital prioritisation comparable to projects managed by NHS Property Services and Health Facilities Scotland standards. The authority also had duties relating to public health transitions that touched on entities like Local Government Association and the legacy of roles discharged by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in guidance dissemination.

Regional commissioning and services

Regional commissioning linked to local commissioning groups and large provider trusts including Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust-style governance models and specialist centres such as the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. Cross-boundary service planning involved networks resembling the East Midlands Ambulance Service arrangements and collaborative agreements with academic partners like University of Nottingham, University of Leicester, and University of Cambridge for research and training. Mental health provision intersected with trusts such as South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and commissioning for long-term conditions paralleled initiatives seen in NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme pilots. The authority also engaged with ambulance services comparable to West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust for operational resilience planning.

Performance and accountability

Performance management used indicators comparable to those applied by the Care Quality Commission and national targets such as constitutional standards upheld across acute and community services. The SHA reported on waiting-time metrics that echoed nationally reported figures for accident and emergency performance and elective referral-to-treatment pathways monitored similarly to other regions. Accountability routes included Parliamentary scrutiny through the Health Select Committee and audit processes akin to those performed by the National Audit Office. Service improvement programmes referenced approaches used by NHS-wide initiatives such as the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) programme.

Mergers, dissolutions and legacy

NHS Midlands and East was dissolved in 2013 as part of the post-Health and Social Care Act 2012 reorganisation that abolished strategic health authorities and transferred many duties to NHS England and Clinical Commissioning Groups. Its functions were redistributed among regional teams of NHS England and local commissioning consortia, with legacy responsibilities continuing through organisations like NHS Improvement and merged trusts such as the later configurations of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust. Records, transitional plans and lessons influenced later policy debates captured in inquiries and reports similar in nature to reviews by the Kings Fund and publications by the Nuffield Trust.

Criticism and controversies

Criticisms mirrored broader controversies surrounding NHS structural change during the early 2010s, including debates sparked by Andrew Lansley’s reforms and concerns raised by organisations such as the British Medical Association and Royal College of Nursing about disruption to commissioning continuity. Observers compared the SHA’s short tenure to previous consolidations criticised in reports by the National Audit Office and commentary from think tanks including IPPR and Policy Exchange. Local campaigns in cities like Birmingham and counties such as Cambridgeshire highlighted disputes over service closures and reconfigurations similar to contested cases involving hospital downgrades and emergency service provision controversies.

Category:Defunct NHS organisations