NORTH YORKSHIRE’S health watchdog says it welcomes the Government’s decision to give more time for health plan proposals, which they say would cause rural communities to lose out.

A key part of NHS planning guidance for the next five years involved dividing North Yorkshire’s clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) between three urbanised regions for the delivery of health care services.

But North Yorkshire County Council raised “serious concerns” last month that under the Sustainability and Transformational Plans (STPs) would concentrate spending in more densely populated urban areas.

In a letter to NHS England for Yorkshire and the Humber, committee chair Jim Clark said North Yorkshire’s challenges, which were associated with sparsity, risk being made worse under the new arrangement, as funding would be further syphoned into urban areas.

Yorkshire’s clinical commissioning groups would be divided into three regions which would deliver health care services:

• West Yorkshire (made up of 11 existing CCGs including the Harrogate area.)

• Durham, Darlington, Tees, Hambleton, Richmond and Whitby (made up of six existing CCGs.)

• Humber Coast and Vale (including the Vale of York and Scarborough and Ryedale CCGs.)

Now the council has welcomed the Government’s decision to allow time for the plans to be finalised.

A draft plan will be drawn up for June 30 which will “form the basis for discussion.”