Single executive team will run trust and CCG in Croydon

In a move that seems to disregard the long established split between purchasers and providers, the NHS in Croydon, in south London, has appointed the same man to run both the local hospital trust and the clinical commissioning group.

Since 1991 the NHS in England has been divided between commissioners, who plan and pay for care, and providers, who deliver it. In its current incarnation the commissioners are the CCGs and the providers the hospital trusts and the private sector. The original hope was that this would improve efficiency through an internal market.

Croydon Health Services NHS Trust announced on 1 August that Matthew Kershaw, previously chief executive of East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, will become the trust’s chief executive and at the same time become the leader of Croydon CCG. This …