Author Archives: East Sussex Better Together

Our services explained

Health and social care teams across East Sussex Better Together have collaborated to produce an interactive tool explaining the services and measures we have in place to keep people well and living in their own homes.

Across our six EBST localities (Eastbourne, Hailsham, Seaford, Hastings, Bexhill and Rural Rother), our teams of health and social care workers are working together to find the most effective solutions for local people.

In case you were wondering how ESBT’s services are being integrated successfully, we’ve put together an interactive PDF to explain how the services work together to keep people safe at home. You can use it to learn about crisis management, frailty services, prevention work and rehabilitation after illness or injury.

Regardless of which service is required we have a single point of access for our services through Health and Social Care Connect. Each of the focus areas also has a short video attached to it, which gives more detail about the services provided. Click on the links below to watch a short video on each of these areas:

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ESBT shortlisted for prestigious Health Service Journal awards

The East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) Alliance and ESBT Alliance partner projects have been shortlisted for prestigious national Health Service Journal awards, which recognise innovations and successes in healthcare.

Those shortlisted are:

  1. The East Sussex Better Together (ESBT) Alliance – which brings together prevention work, primary and community care, social care, mental health, acute and specialist care across East Sussex – has been shortlisted for the Improved Partnerships between Health and Local Government Award. By working together, the Alliance has made significant improvements in care pathways across health and social care. The Alliance is made up of five local partners: Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford CCG; Hastings and Rother CCG; East Sussex County Council; East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT); and associate partner Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT)
  2. ESHT’s Project SEARCH, an NHS Learning Disability Employment Programme, is designed to give young people with learning difficulties or disabilities the skills to gain competitive paid employment. This has been shortlisted for the Improved Partnerships between Health and Local Government Award
  3. ESHT’s Doctors’ Assistants programme for developing non-registered staff to work alongside doctors has been shortlisted for the Workforce Award. This programme has been pioneered at the Trust to help free up doctors so they spend less time on admin duties and more time with patients
  4. SPFT’s i-Rock project in Hastings has been nominated for the Innovation in Mental Health Award. i-Rock is a drop-in centre for young people aged 14-25, where they are able to come and seek support for a number of things including mental health, wellbeing, housing, employment and education. Since opening in July 2016, the service has seen over 370 young people, 35% of whom said that they would not have accessed other services had i-Rock not been there for them.

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Join us at our autumn Shaping Health and Care events

You are invited to have your say on what really matters to you at our upcoming ESBT engagement events.

Listening to local people is one of our top priorities, as you are at the heart of what we do. We are committed to supporting as many people as possible to play their part in transforming health and social care.

One of the best ways that you can get Table discussioninvolved is by attending our Shaping Health and Care (SHC) events. These events bring together a diverse group of local people including patients, voluntary organisations, community groups and ESBT strategic partners and staff to discuss the best ways to meet the health needs of our local areas. Continue reading

ESBT Locality Planning and Delivery Groups

We see our ESBT Alliance localities as the building blocks for how we will transform our local NHS, shaping and delivering services for local people differently in the future.Map ESBT localities

As part of our ambition to create a fully integrated and sustainable health and social care system for local people, we are working to build stronger communities and provide more services closer to home.

We have already established ‘Locality Networks’ as a way to bring together local people, organisations and communities to share knowledge, insight and experience about their locality and the support provided within it.

Our next step is to establish ‘Locality Planning and Delivery Groups’ across our ESBT localities (Eastbourne, Hailsham, Seaford, Hastings, Bexhill and Rural Rother) as a means to enable planning and clinically led decisions at a local level. These groups will bring together GPs, community health and social care, mental health, children’s services, community pharmacy the voluntary sector and others.

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Diverse, inclusive, together

Diverse, Inclusive, Together

ESBT staff from across the board have come together to learn from and celebrate a diverse and inclusive workforce.

From 25th September to 1st October, staff from all aspects of health and care were invited to a programme of events to celebrate National Inclusion Week. National Inclusion Week is an annual campaign headed up by Inclusive Employers which aims to highlight the importance of inclusion in the workplace. Continue reading

New treatment for enlarged prostate arrives in Eastbourne

UroLift team with theatre staff at Eastbourne District General Hospital

An innovative new treatment for an enlarged prostate called UroLift System, has been used at Eastbourne DGH, one of the first NHS hospitals in Sussex and Kent to carry out the procedure.

This new minimally invasive treatment acts like curtain tie-backs to hold open the lobes of an enlarged prostate to create a channel from the bladder. Patients experience rapid symptom relief, recover from the procedure quickly, and return to their normal routines with minimal downtime.

An enlarged prostate places pressure on the bladder and urethra (the tube through which urine passes) making it difficult to urinate. It is a very common condition for males over 50.

This new UroLift treatment is performed under a short anaesthetic and involves inserting a permanent implant to hold open the prostate. The traditional surgery called a TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate) is a bigger operation and involves cutting away a section of the prostate with a higher risk of side effects and usually a two night stay in hospital.

Steve Garnett, Consultant Urologist and Specialty Lead said: “It’s great news for men in this area that we can offer this new procedure. It’s a true breakthrough offering men an alternative to drug therapy or more invasive surgery.

“As a Urologist, it’s deeply satisfying to be able to offer men an effective treatment with no risk of sexual dysfunction developing as a result of the treatment. Patients undergoing the procedure will experience rapid symptom relief and recover quickly. Being able to perform this procedure as a day case also means we can perform three times as many procedures allowing us to free up beds for other patients.

“It’s important that men remember that their prostate can increase in size as they get older, but more often these changes are not necessarily a sign of cancer. The increasing size of the prostate can cause bothersome and worrying symptoms. If there are changes such as a difference in the frequency of passing urine, and how long it takes; and especially if men are getting up a lot in the night to go and it’s disturbing their sleep. I would urge men to see their GP and ask to be checked to see if they need treatment.”

The UroLift treatment is one of six innovations hand-picked by the UK Government as a strategically important product for the future of the NHS, as one of a handful of revolutionary healthcare technologies that can improve the UK’s public healthcare system, in a new report and funding mechanism for innovations by the UK Government released in October 2016.

Get your copy of the planning and partnerships report

The feedback report from the July 2017 planning and partnerships workshop is now available to download.

East Sussex Better Together have been reviewing how stakeholders are involved in the strategic planning of health and care services. We have been thinking about how we can improve arrangements to ensure that we make best use of stakeholder’s experiences and expertise in shaping services.

As part of this review, a workshop was held on 7 July 2017 in Hastings, where we invited stakeholders with an interest in the strategic planning of health and care services. The purpose of the workshop was to share ideas and to explore setting up a new stakeholder group. In the weeks since the workshop, we have produced our feedback report which looks at feedback from discussions, other points of interest about how our approach could be improved and gives an idea of how the group would fit within the wider health and wellbeing governance structure.

The planning and partnerships working group is now using this feedback report (PDF), alongside the detailed set of workshop notes, to develop the terms of reference for the stakeholder group and supporting materials.  In the next few weeks we will be sending out information about the recruitment process for the stakeholder group and next steps around its set-up and development.

If you would like to find out more about the stakeholder group or get involved please contact sally.polanski@eastsussex.gov.uk

 

ESBT Welfare Benefits and Debt Project helps 12,500 since April ’16

Our Welfare Benefits and Debt project provides a lifeline for local people in need of help and support.

The ESBT welfare benefits and debt project was initially set up in 2013 in response to the Welfare Reform Act 2012 to help local people to access their correct benefit entitlements. The service provides independent and confidential benefits and debt advice to residents across East Sussex. Since 2016 it has been funded by our two local CCGs (H&R and EHS) who recognise that poverty is a major determinant of health inequality. This project is a great example of prevention work as it seeks to address socially determined health inequalities.

WBDP successes

In the first 15 months of the ESBT funded project, a sizeable £2.7 million of debt has been managed for 400 clients with long tern physical or mental health conditions and over 12,500 people have received benefits and debt advice.

In the first quarter of 2017 alone, 2,530 people received benefits advice while 144 people received debt advice. After getting help from this service, 81 per cent of clients said that their mental health and wellbeing had improved. Clients were referred into the service from health and social care professionals and from outreach sessions held in GP Practices and other health and wellbeing locations. The couple below are just one of many who have received help and advice which made a real difference to their quality of life.

Mr C, 83 & Mrs C, 82, live in a one bedroom, privately rented flat. They both suffer from long term conditions including heart problems, COPD, asthma, arthritis and spinal problems. They also suffer from social isolation as their poor health means they are unable to use public transport and they cannot afford to pay for private transport.

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East Sussex: full of life!

Join us in celebrating ten years of Older People’s Day in East Sussex with a packed programme of events, coming soon to your area.

People in the UK are living longer, which is great news, and East Sussex has a much older population than the UK average, with 24.9% being over 65 in 2015. We’ve been ranked in the top five places to retire and with the beautiful rolling countryside and idyllic coastal towns, it’s no wonder that many people choose to move here in their later years.

No matter where they live, as a person gets older, they are likely to experience one or more of the following; physical isolation, lack of companionship, loss of independence or the absence of a responsible role in society. All of these situations can leave somebody more vulnerable to some serious physical and mental health issues.

There are many ways to combat these negative effects on your health and wellbeing when you get older. Volunteering in the community, attending a book club, learning a new skill and joining a local leisure centre are all great examples of how to stay social and active. Doing any of these simple activities can bring a wealth of benefits, including a sense of belonging, feeling healthier and young at heart, increased confidence and general feeling of wellbeing and improved quality of life.

1st October 2017 is Older People’s Day – an annual event to celebrate our older population, recognise their valuable contributions to society and to examine issues that affect their lives. This year is a special one as it is the 10th anniversary, and we have worked together with seniors’ forums, the voluntary sector and community groups to commemorate the occasion with an exciting programme of events taking place throughout September and October. From film clubs to farm visits, historical lectures to ‘how-to’ workshops, and plenty of cake-related gatherings, there is something for everyone!

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The Big Gig – There’s more to me than LD!

The Big Gig - Save the DateThe Big Gig is an inclusive free event celebrating the good work with and for people with learning disabilities. For several years people involved in learning disability have met at Locality Meetings to talk about issues that are important to them. The people attending these groups suggested that we hold an event for everyone in East Sussex – so that is what we are doing!

The Involvement Matters Team – a group of adults with a learning disability – work with East Sussex County Council to ensure the views of people with a learning disability are heard. They have been running a campaign called ‘There’s more to me than LD’ to raise awareness that having a learning disability is part of who you are, but not the only part. This campaign is the theme of The Big Gig and campaign films can be seen here.

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