Industrial Action
There is further planned industrial action this week and then proposed for the first week of January.
It is important to note that the second period of strikes is the longest continuous action we have seen to date.
Health and care partners in Sussex are working incredibly hard together, but there are concerns this industrial action will have an impact on patients.
There are already high numbers of people needing care and support and increasing numbers needing to be hospitalised for various issues, including respiratory illnesses. This is already understandably putting services under significant pressure and it is expected this will increase further as we approach Christmas and into the New Year, coinciding with a reduction in medical workforce due to industrial action.
As ever, the priority is to provide high quality NHS care to local communities, patients, families and carers. All health and care partners in Sussex have been working together since September to develop a robust winter plan and that plan is now operational. However, now additional action is needed to prepare the local NHS for the increased pressure expected to be seen on services during the Christmas and New Year period.
Our local NHS team are putting in additional measures to help manage this increase in demand, including:
- enhancing support for people to remain at home,
- increasing virtual ward beds,
- enhancing urgent community response,
- maximising home visits out of hours,
- a focus on discharge across all health and care partners, and
- a targeted approach to those who regularly use urgent care services, including increased access to care homes with high levels of hospital admissions.
This will be a very challenging period for the NHS. There will be lower levels of staff due to annual leave over the festive period, demand for health services at this time of year is high, and it comes at the end of a year where there has already been significant disruption due to industrial action (this will be the 19th period of action that has taken place across the country since last year).
Providers will need to take further action to use the available workforce in the best possible way to make sure patient safety is not compromised and people can continue to have access to the best possible urgent and emergency care. This may mean a reduction in some less time critical services for a period.
The support from the public during previous periods of industrial action has been vital and has enabled local services to care for those most in need.
The local NHS team are asking the public again to Help Us Help You this winter and play their part by:
- Know the services available to you and using the right one for your needs at the right time.
- To take responsibility for your own health and wellness, by staying as healthy as possible, looking after yourself and asking for support when you need it.
- Look out for your neighbours, relatives and friends to help them stay healthy and seek help if they become ill.
- Get your Covid-19 and flu vaccinations if you are eligible as soon as possible.
- Be respectful to health and care staff and remember they are trying to help you and others as quickly as they can.
By working in this way together, we can help make sure everyone can get the support and care they need this winter.
For more information visit our Help Us Help You webpages:
Help Us Help You this winter – Sussex Health and Care (ics.nhs.uk) and the latest public promotional materials here: Sussex campaign resources
Update on changes to some Locally Commissioned Services in Sussex
In the last year, Locally Commissioned Service activity in Sussex has significantly risen and this means the costs of these services has also increased. Predictions show that without any changes, these services would cost more money by the end of the year than has been budgeted for.
To set this in context, there is a £40m budget for Locally Commissioned Services in Sussex and the projections show that activity would be costing £48m by the end of the year. NHS Sussex has a statutory responsibility to ensure the local NHS does not overspend on its allocated funding.
To inform any decisions, a thorough review of the Locally Commissioned Services in Sussex has taken place. In total there are 85 Locally Commissioned Services in Sussex, but as they respond to local need the majority are available only in a specific location or in a group of GP practices. The review found that of the 85 some remain valuable in addressing local need, some are now covered by services elsewhere in the system, and some are not needed for our local population.
Therefore, the local team have made the decision to make some changes to some Locally Commissioned Services so that they meet their budget this year. Of the 85 services, 13 are affected, with individual changes to each service that ranges from capping activity for this financial year to offering an alternative service with a different provider outside of primary care.
They recognise this may have an impact on patients, with some patients waiting longer for a service or patients being directed to another provider, but everyone will receive advice directly for their personal circumstances and supported with any change to these services. They are also asking general practices to apply their clinical expertise, for example, if a service is capped and they have a specific amount of activity that can still be delivered, to prioritise those who most need this before April.
It is important to be clear that this does not affect core services at any GP practice, and these remain available for patients across Sussex.
They have also communicated this to all GP practices and recognise that you may receive contact from local teams about these changes. They understand that these Locally Commissioned Services are important to general practice, but are clear they should never replace core funding for GP practices.
The local NHS team will continue to engage with GP practices and address any concerns and questions they may have, whilst also continue to support patients to receive the best possible care, whilst working within our financial allocations.