A REVOLUTION in south Essex healthcare is coming.

Over the next few months, GPs, social services, various practitioners and representatives will get together to iron out the finer details of the NHS shake up that aims to save the hospitals millions over the next three years.

Groups from Southend, Basildon and Mid Essex Hospitals will join patients to discuss ideas under NHS England’s Mid and South Essex Success Regime.

The regime – one of three being tested across the country in areas where hospitals and GP surgeries are struggling – will see services merge between the three hospitals and five clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the area.

Andrew Pike, the man heading up the changes, explained how he will find £214million of savings to prevent a £216million deficit by 2019.

Mr Pike, Essex area director for NHS England, said he hoped there would be minimal job losses and less reliance on expensive agency and temporary staff. He also reassured patients that the three hospitals, along with their accident and emergency departments, would stay.

He said: “We’ve done high-level estimations of what’s achievable and the details will follow.

“We would like to explore the workforce to see how they can be optimally used, with staffing working on one or more sites.

“We want better training, and to make jobs more attractive using the staff we have in the three hospitals.

“With administration and management, we want greater collaboration, so over all there are likely to be less jobs, but I don’t think there will be a high number of redundancies because it will take two years to implement and there will be natural turnover in that time from people leaving and retiring – but again we can’t give guarantees.”

Mr Pike said the current five CCGs would remain, but make decisions as one group.

As with the hospitals, the onus will be sharing services, using of new technology and providing more community care to stop expensive hospital admissions.

Mr Pike said: “We want to see what we can do to help GPs and nurses keep people safe and looked after in the community and avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital.”

He added: “If we can get hospitals to go on their efficiency programmes, and if we can reduce the amount of people going to hospital, you are releasing money to invest in primary care because hospitals are paid for each person going to hospital. CCGs get growth money and the more demand on their services, the more growth money they receive to invest in the community.

“Over the longer term, we want to see how we can get the best out of our three hospitals by working more closely together and making better use of facilities. It doesn’t depend on new buildings.

“If GPs are asked to do more work, if they take on special clinics, there will be extra funding.

“We aren’t asking GPs to take on any more efficiency as they already have annual targets.

“If they are creating new services in the community then funding will be identified.”

While the regime’s plans represent huge changes in the way local healthcare is provided, Mr Pike said patients were unlikely to experience too much upheaval.

Asked if there would be any privatisations of services, Mr Pike said: “We can never say absolutely ‘no’.

“There will be some element of services that might be procured, such as the 111 service, but not overall privatisation.

“This action is more about core NHS values and a collaboration of public services.”

Watchdog vows to keep eye on plans

AN independent health watchdog is currently taking part in discussions with the Mid and South Essex Success Regime.

Healthwatch Essex will be among GPs, other health providers and service users who will meet between now and September to thrash out details of the plan to overhaul healthcare in the area before it goes out to public consultation in September.

Gavin Rogers, communications manager, said the organisation would be keeping a close eye on the project in the coming months.

He said: “At the moment there is not a lot of detail and it seems focussed on the financial side of things, which is understandable.

“We would hope the regime focuses on what people want but at the moment there doesn’t seem to be a lot to talk about.

“There will be some sort of rationalisation with things going on in two or three hospitals now only going on in one. They need to talk to patients and understand what their needs are first. We will be keeping an eye on it to ensure patient welfare doesn’t suffer.”

Mr Rogers added: “It will all depend on the details and the devil is in the detail.

“The use of modern technology could beaway forward. It could work well and be a good opportunity. Monitoring patients at home makes an awful lot of sense, but you wonder how much they would have to invest in the technology.

“The success regime is a good opportunity and doing nothing is not an option. We hope they come up with some good ideas by September.”