NHS England and NHS Improvement have given the OK to merge to twenty clinical commissioning groups, according to HSJ. The mergers will be in place from April 2020.
This includes six groups in south west London, six in south east London and eight in the Kent and Medway region, which will combine to serve populations of roughly 1.5 million, 1.9 million and 1.8 million respectively.
HSJ notes that the the Kent and Medway group must meet several conditions, including that NHSE/I must approve its constitution before a single CCG can be formed.
The NHSE/I are considering a merger proposal from a group of north central London CCGs, whilst groups in the north west and north east of London have delayed their mergers by a year.
At least five mergers in the south west, north west and north east of England were approved in mid-October and HSJ has been told that many other CCGs are still waiting for a decision from the regulator on their own applications to merge.
Full story in the HSJ, 23 October 2019