Proposed changes to hospital services
NHS Sussex and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) have recently completed a public consultation called Shaping our Future.
The consultation covered the proposed reconfiguration (reorganisation) of three services that are currently located on both the Conquest Hospital and Eastbourne District Hospital sites, with a preference that these would be provided on a single site in future.
There were between one and three proposed options for each service:
1. Hyper acute (first 3 days) and acute (first 7 days) stroke care
- One option. A single acute stroke unit on one site
2. Emergency and higher risk elective (planned) general surgery
- Two options. Preferred option is for emergency and higher risk planned surgery on one site.
3. Emergency and higher risk elective (planned) orthopaedic surgery
- Three options. Preferred option is for emergency and higher risk planned surgery on one site.
The two surgical services would need to be on the same site but stroke services could be on a different site.
ESHT estimated that the service reconfiguration will affect 7% of inpatient care and around 1% of all patients using both hospitals.
The proposals are part of a wider Clinical Strategy that the Trust hopes will deliver clinically and financially sustainable models of care by redesigning eight key services. These three services required formal consultation because they will be substantially reconfigured, whereas the other five services either require less significant change, or are subject to ongoing work which means their future shape is not yet clear.
HOSC involvement
HOSC agreed at the 19 June meeting that the proposed reconfiguration of the three services required the NHS to consult formally with the Committee, alongside its own public consultation process.
HOSC agreed to undertake a detailed review of the proposals, in order to produce a report and recommendations to formally submit to NHS Sussex and ESHT.
The Committee heard from a wide range of interested parties, including clinicians, the ambulance service and campaign groups at three evidence gathering meetings on 26 July, 13 September and 4 October.
HOSC agreed the final report at its 30 October meeting and submitted it to NHS Sussex. NHS Sussex agreed with the proposed changes to the configuration of services and this decision was reported to HOSC at the Committee's meeting on 13 December 2012, along with the NHS response to HOSC's recommendations. HOSC considered that NHS Sussex's decision was in the best interests of health services for the local area.
Representations to HOSC
HOSC has received some correspondence relating to the NHS proposals from various interested parties. Each month, correspondence received were collated into a supplementary information pack which was circulated to HOSC Members to inform their consideration of the proposals. The information packs are also published below. Please note that any personal contact details have been redacted prior to publication (with some exceptions where permissions have been sought).
Representations received - July 2012
Representations received - August 2012
Representations received - September 2012
Representations received - October 2012
Representations received - December 2012
Have your say
Consultation on the proposed changes ran until 28 September 2012. You can still find full details and the consultation document on the Shaping our Future webpage.
If you have any questions about HOSC's role in this process contact
healthscrutiny@eastsussex.gov.uk
Or contact Claire Lee, Scrutiny Lead Officer on 01273 481327