The Sussex Health and Care Partnership is a collaboration of health and care organisations across Sussex.
Our aim is to improve the health of the populations we serve and ensure organisations are working in the most effective and joined-up way. We work in partnership across Sussex, as well as across our ‘places’ of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex.
We have an agreed vision for the future – Sussex 2025: Our vision for a healthier future – that sets out where we want to be as a health and care system in the future. It is a vision where people live for longer in good health; where the gap in healthy life expectancy between people living in the most and least disadvantaged communities will be reduced; where people’s experiences of using services will be better and where staff feel supported and work in a way that makes the most of their dedication, skills and professionalism. It is a vision where the cost of health and care will be affordable and sustainable in the long term.
Over the last few years, we have made huge strides in our journey towards our vision. A significant amount of work has taken place behind the day-today frontline delivery of services to focus on how we can develop a health and care system that enables our organisations to work in a more joined-up and collaborative way for the benefit of our populations.
Our Journey Together document summarises the progress we have made, where we want to get to and the next steps for 2021-22 to help ensure we have a collective understanding across our system partners, stakeholders, workforce and our public.
Our ICS Annual Report provides an overview of the progress we have made across our system-wide programmes and collaboratives over the last year. This work took place in the context of the addition significant pressures and demands we had to face across our health and care system.
An important next step towards our vision is the development of our Integrated Care System (ICS). In April 2020, the Sussex Health and Care Partnership was awarded ICS status. This allowed us to formalise the strong partnership and collaborative working we have built over the last few years and has allowed us to make tangible improvements to the health and care of the people we serve. This way of working has been particularly pivotal in how we have responded collectively as a system to the challenge of COVID-19.
The Government have published a new Health and Care Bill setting out proposals for the legislative reforms of the NHS. This is currently going through the Parliament approval process.
The Bill follows the publication by NHS England and Improvement of the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) Design Framework that sets out the next level of detail regarding expectations for future health and care system working.
We are currently working through the details of both these key documents and have a structured programme of work taking place that will ensure we can shape and build the way we work across Sussex in the best possible way.
As we continue to progress on our system journey of development throughout 2021-22, we will be involving and engaging with our system partners, public and stakeholders. We will be undertaking formal and informal discussions across the system that will inform, shape and influence the future of health and care. All partners will have an opportunity to input into this work and we will be carrying out public engagement to ensure the views and insight of our communities is heard.