Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust launches on 1 October 2024 with a call for local communities to help determine the new organisation’s priorities
A new NHS Trust, bringing together community, mental health and learning disability services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, has launched today aimed at improving services for local patients.
The creation of ‘Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’ brings together Solent NHS Trust and Southern Health NHS Foundation 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. Find out more about the new Trust here.
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 today, 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.”
Notes to editors
- On 1 February 2024 the child and adolescent mental health services previously provided by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust in Hampshire, transferred into Southern Health. This means that for the first time in many years, all of the mental health services for young people across the whole of Hampshire and Isle of Wight are together in one service.
- This was followed on 1 May 2024 by the community, mental health and learning disability services on the Isle of Wight joining with the mainland services. Transferring the services from Solent NHS Trust was the final phase, completing the creation of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust provides community, mental health and learning disability services across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. We employ in the region of 12,500 people, with a turnover of approximately £800 million, delivering a highly diverse range of services to a combined population of two million people. Our aim is to provide high quality, safe and effective services for all people across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and to deliver outstanding care that supports people to live their best and healthiest lives.
- Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust will help to bring about, locally, the much needed shift in focus highlighted by Lord Darzi in his recent report and supported by the Government. Combining community, mental health and learning disability services across the whole local health and care system creates a huge opportunity to focus more on out-of-hospital care and preventative support to keep people well in their own homes and communities.
- People are invited to get involved in shaping the strategy of the new Trust - find out more here.
• Details of the Trust’s Executive leadership team are available here.
• The full list of services provided by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare is available here.