Council chiefs approve new £116,000 health and social care post

Whoever is appointed to the new job, which is being jointly funded by Durham County Council and the County Durham Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), will be responsible for a combined budget of about £1billion.

The proposal was approved at a meeting of the full county council on Wednesday, October 23.

Lucy Hovvels, the county council’s cabinet member for adult and health services, said: “The benefits of working in a more integrated way are clear – to minimise duplication, maximise skills and maximise the impact of the County Durham pound to benefit our communities.”

Earlier this year the North Durham CCG and the Durham Dales, Easington and Sedgefield (DDES) CCG agreed to merge by April, a decision expected to save about £2.1million over the next two years.