Surrey Heartlands Five Year Plan to improve local health and care services published

Friday 18 November 2016. A Five Year Plan to improve local health and care services for Surrey Heartlands, - the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) - has been published. 

Julia Ross, Senior Responsible Officer for Surrey Heartlands and Chief Executive of North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group explains more: 

“We all know that health and care services are under pressure – more people using our services, rising costs, difficulties in recruiting the right, skilled staff and limited levels of investment have combined to put the current system under considerable strain.  Our staff offer fantastic care for patients, but we also know that the way many services are delivered is out of date and not reflective of the latest changes in clinical practice and advancing technology.”

At the end of last year, the Government asked local health and care organisations to work together across larger areas to deliver the NHS vision (the Five Year Forward View).  These Sustainability and Transformation Plans are expected to be ambitious, improving services for local residents to offer the best care and treatments, and making sure they are sustainable over time. We have already started a piece of work to understand more about what local people want from health and care services, and look forward to continuing this work as our plan develops further.

Dr Claire Fuller, GP and Clinical Chair of Surrey Downs CCG continues: “This presents a real opportunity to work collaboratively to make lasting change for our population.  Our vision is for people, no matter where they live in Surrey Heartlands, to have access to the same high quality standards of care and treatment and the opportunity for people to be more involved in decisions about their care.”

Paula Head, Chief Executive of Royal Surrey County Hospital said: “Our patients are at the heart of these plans, which will see healthcare services built around the needs of the local population. They will drive greater efficiencies and improve access to services, ensuring patients receive the care and treatment they need in the right place at the right time.”

The plan will mean a number of clear benefits for patients including:

  • Enabling an additional £30 million investment in primary care services over the next five years, giving people more access to GP appointments in the evenings and at weekends, and longer appointment times where necessary;
  • By 2021, new teams of GPs, nurses, social care practitioners, psychologists and other specialists will mean more patients seen in one place, with their needs met by health and care professionals working together;
  • More focus on disease prevention: investing an additional £8 million in cancer services to support earlier diagnosis and increasing cancer survival rates; investing an additional £3 million in mental health services, making it easier for patients to access services.

Fiona Edwards, Chief Executive of Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who is leading the mental health work stream, said: “Our new way of working together through the Sustainability Transformation Plans is a fantastic step forward, recognising the crucial importance for us all of putting good mental health side by side with good physical health for the well- being of our communities”. 

Chief Executive of Surrey County Council, David McNulty who chairs the Surrey Heartlands Transformation Board concludes:  “This is a genuinely exciting opportunity to bring together health and social care in our county and improve the services offered to local people.” 

The 11 organisations in Surrey Heartlands are:

  • Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (acute hospital services)
  • CSH Surrey​ (delivering community services across Surrey Downs)
  • Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust (acute hospital services)
  • Guildford and Waverley Clinical Commissioning Group
  • North West Surrey Clinical Commissioning Group
  • Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (acute hospital services)
  • South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust (ambulance services)
  • Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (delivering mental health services across Surrey)
  • Surrey County Council (adult and children’s social care services)
  • Surrey Downs Clinical Commissioning Group
  • Virgin Care (delivering community services across West Surrey)​​.

More information and access to the full plan is available at www.surreyheartlands.uk

For further information contact Giselle Rothwell: Giselle.Rothwell@asph.nhs.uk / 07500 064 771 or Aidan Mundy: aidan.mundy@nwsurreyccg.nhs.uk / 07584 112 578 / 01372 232 443.