THE chief executive of NHS England had an appointment with a county GP this week for an eight month check-up.

Sir David Nicholson met Dr Andy Watts , clinical lead with Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)  and his leadership team.

It is eight months since the CCG took over local health commissioning responsibilities - buying hospital and other health services - and Sir David was checking on progress.

Dr Watts said  Sir David was “particularly interested” in the CCG’s  review of hospital services and other work to match services to specific challenges.

Sir David acknowledged the CCG as “working really hard” on a  variety of projects.

“Everyone involved is very aware of the challenges that the area faces,” he said.