Celebration event marks achievements of CCG staff

A look back on the life of the CCG and stories from the last year…

The final, formal meeting of West Essex CCG was held on Thursday 30 September.

The celebration event looked back on the lifespan of the CCG and focused on the achievements and hard work of staff over the last year. The meeting followed on from the statutory Joint AGM held in July 2021, with Herts Valleys CCG and East and North Herts CCG.

The meeting heard from a west Essex young mental health ambassador, who spoke of her journey to access mental health services during the pandemic, with positive results. Healthwatch Essex and North East London Foundation Trust (NELFT), which provides children and young people’s mental health services, spoke about the young mental health ambassador programme and the pathways they follow.

Following a roundup of the successful COVID-19 vaccination programme in west Essex, Dr Rob Gerlis, Chair of West Essex CCG, spoke about the huge challenges faced by GP practices and their work to continue to see patients virtually and face to face while keeping the spread of COVID at bay.

Finally, we welcomed Neela Hibbert, who runs the Harlow Ethnic Minority Umbrella, who shared her experiences of working with the CCG for the last year. Neela has been a key contact who has helped the CCG engage with people from 28 different communities in Harlow alone. Her work and the collaboration between the CCG and her group, has meant more people could be vaccinated, had their questions answered and felt confident about approaching the NHS for vaccinations and other issues. This work is ongoing and it was great to hear first-hand how this collaboration has supported the community.

Peter Wightman, West Essex CCG Managing Director, and Rob both thanked staff for going above and beyond the call of duty to support the vaccination programme and for stepping into roles and picking up tasks they may not normally do. All this, along with adjusting to working from home, has meant the CCG has continued to provide good services to patients throughout what has been a difficult 18 months.

If you didn’t get a chance to join the meeting you can view it on the CCG's YouTube channel or press play below.