HEALTH bosses have admitted that the challenges facing the health and care system is huge as they prepare to work more closely with Wiltshire Council.

Last week council leader Jane Scott announced that a fourth corporate director was to be taken on by the council but the cost of the new post of

adult social care and health and chief accountable officer will be shared by Wiltshire Council and the NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group.

It is expected that the cost to each council will be more than £70,000 a year. Dr Peter Jenkins chairman of the CCG said in a joint statement with Baroness Scott: "Over the last few months, and following leadership recruitment difficulties, Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group’s Governing Body has discussed what it feels to be the best way forward.

"Having reviewed a series of options, the governing body has come to the conclusion that seamless working between front line health and social care services will benefit Wiltshire people and patients in the best way.

"This means working more closely with Wiltshire Council. The challenges faced by the health and care system are huge; one way to address the issues we face quickly is to integrate the leadership of health and social care services across our organisations, before exploring further options together."

He said this had let to the CCG starting a process with Wiltshire Council which will lead to the new post of Clinical Commissioning Group accountable officer and director of adult social care being created.

He said: "The Clinical Commissioning Group remains the statutory body responsible for commissioning health care in Wiltshire."

Baroness Scott said last week that she hoped the new officer and their team might eventually be based at County Hall in Trowbridge but in the early days would be likely to split their time between the council offices and the CCG headquarters at Pans Lane in Devizes.

She said: "We recognise that the integration of health and social care is the only option if we are to manage the demand for these services in the coming years. The NHS Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group has agreed that to jointly fund the accountable officer post, which is the most senior post in the CCG, and to combine this with the council’s corporate director for adult social care. This new post will provide the best opportunity to lead and deliver the integration of health and social care across the county."