'Money siphoned off' in health changes

The Government has announced plans to further streamline the NHS by creating one East Sussex wide organisation incorporating all four East Sussex PCTs, Bexhill and Rother, Eastbourne Downs, Hastings and St Leonards and the Sussex Downs and Weald.

It is hoped the new system will help improve and protect the health of the population by more accurately assessing need and by providing a more efficient service.

But the new plans were unanimously criticised at last week's inaugural joint board meeting between the Hastings and St Leonards and Bexhill and Rother PCTs.

Members of both trusts expressed concern money would be siphoned from the area to subsidise debts in other parts of East Sussex, adversely affecting patients who live in deprived areas of Hastings.

Marie Casey, chairman of the Hastings and St Leonards PCT, said: "A lot of our success stems from the fact that we are a relatively small PCT, we have a very strong sense of accountability. This would be lost under the new proposals."

John Barnes, chairman of the Bexhill and Rother PCT, said: "We have been very good at administering services in this part of the country.

"There are clear indications from clinicians that they would feel disengaged if we went to a single county-wide model. They also believe the re-organisational process would be very disruptive."

The Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority supports the idea of one East Sussex PCT while the members of the Hastings and Bexhill PCTs would prefer an alternative option, where two PCTs, one covering Hastings and Rother and the other covering Eastbourne Downs and Sussex Downs and Weald were established. Changes in the size and structure of Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) themselves are also proposed in the consultation document.

SHAs are the head of the NHS in the area, and support front-line organisations as they improve services, cut waiting times and deal with financial problems.

At present, the Surrey and Sussex SHA presides over 15 PCTs, but plans are afoot to amalgamate the four SHAs in the South East, including Thames Valley, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Kent and Medway and Surrey and Sussex.

An alternative proposal combined the Sussex and Surrey SHA with Kent and Medway.

This was the preferred model at last Thursday's meeting, as Sussex and Surrey already has a large patient flow into Kent. The new SHA system would allow for savings in management and administration costs and improved treatment for patients generally.

The public consultation on the nationwide re-organistion programme, entitled 'Ensuring a Patient-Led NHS' started in December and will end on March 22, when the Secretary of State for Health, Patricia Hewett, will decide if the proposals can go ahead.