The way health and care works across Sussex is changing to help give local people what they need to live healthier lives for longer. People like Emma, Anne and Eddie:
Emma, 42, lives in Sussex with her three children and husband. She needs to know how they can stay well and, when they do have a health issue, how to get the most appropriate care and support as soon as possible.
Anne, 88, lives alone in a rural part of Sussex, has a complex long-term condition and signs of dementia. She needs the support and care of a range of services from a number of different organisations and needs them to work together to provide joined-up care close to where she lives.
Eddie, 50, has several long-term health conditions and mental health issues. He is unemployed, lives in poor housing and is drinking more alcohol than before. Eddie needs additional help to know how he can get the advice and support he needs from different organisations within his local community.
We know that Emma, Anne and Eddie and many other people living across Sussex are not always getting what they need. This is why we need to change how health and care works for us all.
A person’s health and wellbeing is influenced by a range of things, such as their education, living environment, employment, lifestyle and their family support, as well as the NHS. These areas are the responsibility of a number of different organisations.
We have an aging and growing population, which means more people need to use services more often. We have a limited amount of staff, buildings and funding available. The way in which organisations have worked in the past has not always been joined-up and can be difficult for people to understand.
To better meet the needs of local people, we need all the organisations responsible for health and care to work in a more joined-up way.
We are doing this by developing our ‘Sussex Health and Care System’ to allow organisations to work together in a better and more formal way.
This will help:
- Support people to live for longer in good health
- Make sure our disadvantaged communities get the care they need
- Improve people’s experience of using services
- Better support our staff
- Make better use of the resources available
The new way of working will involve three changes to how health and care is organised from 1 July.
The different organisations with an interest in health and care across Sussex, including University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSussex), will come together regularly as our new Health and Care Assembly to make sure the needs of people across Sussex are being met.
UHSussex will also become part of a new organisation called NHS Sussex that will help the local NHS work better for local people.
And we are creating partnerships of health and care organisations across our local authority areas that will work closer together to better support communities to stay healthy and get the most appropriate support, care and treatment they need.
We will also be working more closely with local people to understand their needs and experiences to help shape how we work.
These changes alone will not tackle all the issues we face, but they will provide a way of working where people and organisations can work more closely together to provide better health and care for all now and in the future.