Healthcare in Sussex

Healthcare in Sussex is now the responsibility of seven Clinical Commissioning Groups covering: Brighton and Hove; Coastal West Sussex; Horsham and Mid Sussex; Crawley; Eastbourne Hailsham and Seaford; Hastings and Rother; High Weald; and Lewes-Havens.

History

From 1947 to 1974 NHS services in Sussex were managed by the South-East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. In 1965 a new Board was formed for Wessex which also covered Dorset apart from Lyme Regis. In 1974 the Boards were abolished and replaced by Regional Health Authorities. East Sussex came under the South East Thames RHA. West Sussex was under South West Thames RHA. Regions were reorganised in 1996 and the whole of Sussex came under the South Thames Regional Health Authority. East Sussex and West Sussex both had their own Area Health Authority from 1974 until 2000 when they were abolished. The county was divided into District Authorities based in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings in the East which were amalgamated in 1994. In the West there were three districts: Chichester; Worthing; and Cuckfield and Crawley: renamed Mid Downs 1982. Regional Health Authorities were reorganised and renamed Strategic Health Authorities in 2002. The whole county was part of Surrey and Sussex SHA. In 2006 regions were again reorganised and Sussex came under NHS South East Coast until that was abolished in 2013. There were originally ten Primary Care Trusts for the area but by 2013 there were only four: Brighton and Hove City PCT; East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT (made by merger of Eastbourne Downs PCT and Sussex Downs and Weald PCT); Hastings and Rother PCT (made by merger of Hastings and St Leonards PCT and Bexhill and Rother PCT); West Sussex PCT (made by merger of Adur, Arun and Worthing PCT, Western Sussex PCT, Horsham and Chanctonbury PCT, Crawley PCT, and Mid-Sussex PCT).

The CCGs took on the responsibilities of the former PCTs in April 2013.

Primary care

There are separate Local Medical Committees for East and West Sussex.

n 2015 Brighton and Hove Integrated Care Service successfully won a contract for dermatology services from Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group - a service which they had been providing since 2010 - but had to withdraw when it could not reach agreement with its proposed subcontractors.[1]

The Sussex Medical Centre in Brighton is a private health provider which also provides NHS funded services, particularly in urology and weight management.

Acute care

The main providers of acute care in the county are Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Nuffield Health runs Brighton Private Hospital and Spire Healthcare runs Sussex Hospital in East Sussex and the Montefiore Hospital in Hove.[2]

The three East Sussex clinical commissioning groups – Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford; Hastings and Rother; and High Weald Lewes Havens – agreed in June 2014 to permanently centralise obstetrics and overnight paediatrics at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings.[3]

Proposals to transfer musculoskeletal services in West Sussex to Bupa CSH - a partnership between Bupa and Central Surrey Health were abandoned in January 2015 when it was concluded that trauma services at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust would become unviable if the deal went ahead.[4]

Mental health

The main provider of Mental Health Services is Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

Community services

Sussex Community NHS Trust was established as a result of the Transforming Community Services programme in 2012.

The Sussex Musculoskeletal Partnership is made up of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Brighton and Hove Integrated Care Service, Horder Healthcare and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. In May 2014 the consortium won a five-year musculoskeletal contract worth £210m from Brighton and Hove, Crawley and Horsham and Mid Sussex clinical commissioning groups.[5]

HealthWatch

Healthwatch is an organisation set up under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to act as a voice for patients. There are three separate local Healthwatches in the county covering East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Dermatology procurement delayed after preferred bidder pulls out". Health Service Journal. 17 February 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "Construction of our state-of-the-art Brighton hospital". Spire Healthcare Ltd. 2010. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "How the clinical case won hearts and minds on service reconfiguration". Health Service Journal. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  4. ↑ "West Sussex NHS deal ends over hospital finances". BBC News. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  5. ↑ "Consortium wins £210m MSK contract". Health Service Journal. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 25 May 2014.

External links