Our vision and values

Our Vision and Values

NHS County Durham CCG exists to secure high quality services for our local population.  We work with partners to jointly commission health and social care services which meet the needs of our local population.  Our shared ambition is to improve the health of our population and to address health inequalities that exist across out different local areas.  We want to close the health and wellbeing gap and drive transformation to improve the quality of services that we commission.

Challenged by an ageing population and an increasing number of people living with long term conditions (including cancers), means we have to be able to bring about change and reduce reliance on secondary care services – which in the long term are not financially sustainable.  It is essential therefore that we can confidently manage our local health system, with our social care partners, and actively enable our clinical leaders to develop alternate pathways of care.  In doing this we work to maintain financial stability, ensure effective corporate governance and risk management.

Working together in County Durham for healthier lives.

People Focused

We put people at the centre of everything we do.

• We consider the impact of our work, plans and decisions on local people and our staff,
• We actively engage with local people, including groups that can seldom be heard,
• We seek the views of staff.
• We have a positive approach to health, wellbeing and work-life balance.

Partnership

We achieve more by working with others.

• We act responsibly seeking to understand the impact of our decisions, plans and work on others,
• We put the needs of people before organisational boundaries,
• We are honest,  trustworthy and act consistently and fairly,
• We are dependable and follow through on our commitments.

Innovative

We aspire to find better and different ways of doing things.

• We value ideas recognising that everyone has a part to play in delivering our vision.
• We support an open culture where we encourage constructive challenge and are able learn from mistakes.
• We encourage colleagues to continually develop their skills.

Inclusive

We value people’s differences.

• We listen to and value everyone’s views,
• As an employer and commissioner we value every person and seek to understand their priorities, needs, abilities and limits,
• We act on the outcomes of equality and health inequality impact assessments.

Efficient

We get the best value from all that we do.

• We maximise our resources for the benefit of the whole community, and make sure nobody is excluded, discriminated against or left behind,
• We accept that if we waste resources we waste opportunities for others,
• We aim to think like patients, spending like taxpayers.

Trust

We are honest and open about what we can and cannot do.

• We are transparent in our interactions with others,
• We have a strong work ethic and focus on delivering quality driven outcomes.

Quality

We ensure safe care and positive experiences.

• We listen to those who use NHS services,
• We hold providers of NHS services to account for delivery against agreed quality standards,
• We listen to clinical staff,
• We learn from experience, 
• We have a culture of continuous improvement.

Our Objectives

1. Work with partners to ensure a planned and effective recovery from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
2. Be an effective partner, aligning strategies, policies and activities to reduce duplication and ensure greater impact on the population’s health and wellbeing.
3. Develop and deliver high quality services with co-design and co-production with those who use services and those who provide support as the norm.
4. Maximise opportunities to work with local communities to reduce health inequalities and improve health and wellbeing.
5. Use our collective resources as partners to deliver the best possible health and wellbeing outcomes for population of County Durham.
6. Ensure the CCG demonstrates effective corporate governance and risk management in everything it does.

As a member of the NHS family we share the NHS values described in the national NHS Constitution.  The NHS Constitution is a document that describes the commitments made to people who use NHS services.  It includes the values that the NHS believes are important when delivering NHS care and services.  There are six values in the NHS Constitution.  By living these values we work to ensure we deliver the best possible care for patients:

• working together for patients
• ensuring respect and dignity
• giving a commitment to quality of care
• providing compassion
• improving lives
• ensuring that everyone counts

NHS Constitution