A new NHS Trust, bringing together community, mental health and learning disability services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, has launched aimed at improving services for local patients.
The creation of ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’ brings together Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and Solent NHS Trust, as well as the community, mental health and learning disability services previously provided by Isle of Wight NHS Trust, and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services previously provided in Hampshire by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Bringing these services together into one organisation enables the Trust to deliver benefits to patients including improving access to care, reducing duplication and resolving unnecessary differences in practice and outcomes in order to provide the best care for people living in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Work to develop the new organisation has been ongoing for the past two years and has involved staff as well as a wide range of community partners and other stakeholders. To coincide with the launch the new Trust is inviting local communities to continue their involvement by helping to shape the new organisation’s strategy that will set the priority areas of focus over the next five years.
Ron Shields, Chief Executive of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, says: “This is an exciting day for the NHS in Hampshire and Isle of Wight and the culmination of many years of hard work. Taking the best from all of the organisations involved provides a stronger foundation from which to deliver better, more joined up care for local people, wherever they live.
“We know that continuity is important, and as we set out on the first months of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, most people won’t see immediate changes to how they receive care.
“As our new organisation comes into being we are already focused on what comes next. That is why we want to hear from local people about what we should be focusing on- what is most important to them and what improvements they want to see in the care they receive. This will directly influence the work we do and the changes we seek to make to help Hampshire and Isle of Wight residents lead their healthiest lives possible.”
Whilst the Trust is formally launched this week, members of staff across all four organisations have been working closely together for some time. The Executive leadership team is already in place and has been leading work to create the new Trust, including the development of a clinical operating model that describes how services will be organised. Since August the Trust Boards have been meeting in common, carrying out business and discussing key decisions together.
The new Trust was brought about following a review in 2022 of local community, mental health and learning disability services led by NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight.
Maggie MacIsaac, Chief Executive of NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight said:
“The launch of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare is a milestone in our ambition to improve services, remove unwarranted variation and to better join up care across Hampshire and Isle of Wight. Significant efforts by many people have helped us to reach this point, and we thank everyone involved for all that they are doing to improve health outcomes for our population now and in the future. It is now important that we use this opportunity to shift towards more proactive and preventative care, right in the heart of people’s communities, and the work of all of the teams in this trust will be pivotal towards achieving that aim.”
You can find out more about the new trust on its website.