It was announced today that the NHS in Sussex is making progress with its plans to implement the Government’s health reforms, in preparation for the passing of the Health Bill by MPs in Parliament.
Amanda Fadero, current Chief Executive of NHS Brighton and Hove, has been appointed as designate Chief Executive for the NHS in Sussex.
There are currently four primary care trusts covering each of East Sussex Downs and Weald; Hastings and Rother; West Sussex; and Brighton and Hove, which together are responsible for planning and buying healthcare services for Sussex residents.
Under the Government’s new proposals for changing the way the NHS works this responsibility will transfer to newly formed general practice commissioning consortia – groups of local family doctors who will work together to plan and buy healthcare for their local communities.
As part of the plans to move from the current to the new ways of working, the existing primary care trusts are consolidating their teams and will come together as a county-wide ‘cluster’ led by a single chief executive from April this year. The Sussex-wide team will work closely with local GPs to transfer knowledge and expertise and to support the new consortia as they set up. Critically they will also ensure that planning and buying NHS services for residents this year and next continues to be done properly and efficiently, until the handover to GPs is complete.
Amanda Fadero, designate Chief Executive for the NHS in Sussex, said:
"I am delighted to have been asked to lead the NHS in Sussex through the next couple of years of change, as the NHS system moves from the current to new ways of working with GPs at the helm.
It is a critical job to ensure that as well as supporting GP colleagues for the future, we also have to focus on the delivery of health services in Sussex today. I am looking forward to building on the progress we have made across the county to deliver even better health and care for local residents."
