NHS Sussex’s big milestone
There was a big milestone for the county’s NHS services this year. On 1 July a new statutory NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) known as NHS Sussex took over from the three NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). It was an important step towards achieving the Services’ development of an Integrated Care System (ICS).
The ICS aims to enable NHS organisations, local authorities, social care providers, Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise partners and other stakeholders with an interest in health and care to work together in a more formal way.
There were also changes to improve services. These included the minor injuries unit (MIU) at Crowborough War Memorial Hospital reopening in February and changes to how eye and heart services are delivered in East Sussex being agreed by NHS Sussex in November.
Planning for the future locally
It has been a challenging two-years, and to reflect that we updated our integrated strategy covering health and care. The ‘Healthy Lives, Healthy People’ was refreshed in July to indicate our changing priorities, the learning from the pandemic, and national plans and strategies.
The strategy will guide our work over the coming years, so do have a read if you want to find out more about the shared priorities for health and care partners in East Sussex.
Then in August and September, we conducted our Adult Social Care focused ‘Living Well in East Sussex’ survey to better understand how we should update our long-term strategies for improving health, reducing health inequalities, and integrating care for you.
Almost 500 of you told us, via the survey and the focus groups, that your concerns ranged from the cost-of-living crisis to the need for more easily accessible information.
Work to continue developing the strategy will follow in the new year.
A decade of success as 1Space and People Bank celebrate 10th birthdays
In November, we celebrated two fantastic milestones. In the same year that London hosted the Olympics and Curiosity Rover landed on Mars, we launched our Adult Social Care & Health People Bank and 1Space initiatives, which both turned 10 years old in November.
East Sussex 1Space online directory was launched with a focus on care, support and wellbeing services for people who live in the county, and now includes 2,000 services.
To mark its 10th Birthday, we’re running a survey until 28 February 2023 that will inform and guide improvements to the site. If you’ve used the site and can spare a few minutes, please answer five quick questions telling us what you think of East Sussex 1Space.
On 29 November, we held a face-face meeting with members of the People Bank to celebrate its decade of success. Launched in 2012 with 31 members, today it has 144 members who volunteer their time to inform and give feedback of the services we provide.
To find out about joining the People Bank visit our website [add link] or get in touch to request an information pack. You can email consultation.ASC@eastsussex.gov.uk or leave a message by ringing 01273 335 267.
Life returning to pre-COVID-19 normalcy
Almost two years after we first went into lock down, life began to return to a post-pandemic normalcy in 2022. However, the ‘Help Us, Help You’ message from NHS Sussex remained. The message in February urged people to take a PCR test if they felt the ‘cold-like’ symptoms that could’ve been early signs of COVID-19’s Omicron variant. Now, as the year comes to an end, all eligible people are being encouraged to get their boosters and flu jabs to better protect themselves during the festive season.
How are you feeling? Ways to deal with life’s stresses
As always, our message to you this year was take a moment and not miss some of the signs your minds and bodies were giving you to slow down and take care of yourself. This point is always important, but especially so as the end of 2022 neared and concerns around the cost-of-living grew. To ease worries, we launched a dedicated website page in October that made accessing benefits and resources linked with rises in the cost of living simpler.
The ‘Support with the cost-of-living’ page assists people in the following areas:
- Money, including help with benefits
- Your mental health
- Transport
- Employment and learning
- Your home
If you are feeling particularly low or worried at the moment and are struggling but aren’t sure, there’s an easy way to check. Take this quick, anonymous NHS mood quiz today.
Ukraine crisis: East Sussex residents rally to help
As the war in Ukraine entered its second month of conflict, we offered advice to East Sussex residents supporting refuges under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Advice included ways to welcome guests and how to get financial and other support. By November, the county had 529 hosts. To thank them for their continued support we’ve increased payments from October 2022 to March 2023 by £150 a month to help with cost-of-living concerns.
More information on hosting and the support available to Ukrainian guests is accessible via the County Council’s website.
East Sussex mourns Queen’s death
For many of us, some of whom had only ever known one monarch, September was a time of reflection and sadness following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The 96-year-old’s death on 8 September triggered 10 days of mourning across the county.
Her funeral on 19 September marked the end of a reign spanning seven decades, and this was reflected in the fitting tributes and celebrations of her life – not least from East Sussex residents. We took the opportunity to look back on the occasions she visited our county.