Proposals to improve East Sussex cardiology and ophthalmology services

Improvements to cardiology and ophthalmology services in East Sussex – including new cardiac response teams for both Hastings and Eastbourne to ensure people get the specialist care they need straight away, and one-stop ophthalmology clinics – are progressing.

The East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) Board considered summaries of the decision-making business cases (DMBCs) for both cardiology and ophthalmology at its meeting on 11 October, and subsequently endorsed the proposals.

Full DMBCs and all other supporting information will go to the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) on 2 November for its decision.  All the documents are now publicly available to read and specific documents can be downloaded at the cardiology and ophthalmology home pages.

The proposals, and the ICB decision, will then be reviewed by the East Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 15 December.

Ophthalmology

For ophthalmology, the proposal is to improve care by consolidating the services currently provided at Eastbourne District General Hospital, Bexhill Hospital and Conquest Hospital into two sites at Eastbourne District General Hospital and Bexhill Hospital.

This would enable patients to have quicker access to tests and treatment and more input from the most senior clinicians. It would also enable one-stop clinics, reducing the number of appointments patients need to attend.

Cardiology

For cardiology, the proposal is to improve care at both the Conquest Hospital, Hastings and Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH) by creating new cardiac response teams at the front doors and in the emergency departments (EDs). This would ensure that people are assessed quicker, when they first come into the hospital, meaning they would start receiving specialist care straight away.

In addition, the proposal also includes concentrating the most highly specialised cardiac services, needed by just 3% of the cardiac patients our services see each year, at one or other hospital site.

Find out more about the proposals to improve cardiology and ophthalmology services in East Sussex.

Carers Reviews will continue to be delegated to CftC through to 2025

A Carer Reviews pilot project between the Adult Social Care Team and Care for the Carers (CftC) will continue for the next three years after the project was found to provide an overwhelmingly positive experience for carers.

Carer Reviews are used to better understand the impact of the caring role on the carer’s life and their own health and wellbeing.

Normally undertaken by Adult Social Care as a statutory requirement, the project piloted reviews being undertaken by CftC, the Carers Centre for East Sussex.

The pilot project found that:

  • carers felt the process was smooth and well organised
  • having CftC as the single point of contact for reviewing their needs as a carer worked well
  • needs could be met in a timely, co-ordinated and responsive way and they could receive the support they need when they most needed it

The extension follows an assessment of the service among a random sample of carers who had received Reviews since the pilot began.

The pilot project followed a workshop on Reviews that identified how some Carer Reviews were not being routinely completed.

‘Living Well in East Sussex’ survey to inform adult social care plans

Together with its residents and partners, East Sussex County Council is developing a long-term plan, its strategy, for adult social care.

This will set the direction of adult social care for everyone who has — or will have — care and support needs within the county, the projects and services that support them and their carers and families.

The ‘Living Well in East Sussex’ survey, which ran in August and September, was the starting point for the strategy, and almost 500 people completed it.

According to the survey, residents are concerned about the cost of living; isolation or connection with others; not having enough care, support or adaptations in their home; and accessible services, facilities, and information.

Key themes to residents living a ‘good life’, highlighted by the survey, are:

  • having enough money
  • connecting with friends, family and neighbours
  • their home
  • having hobbies or volunteering
  • being active and looking after themselves

The survey responses are being reviewed, and feedback will help organisers plan discussions at a range of focus group events during the next two months.

A big ‘thank you’ to everyone who completed the survey and all of the County Council’s partners who helped promote and share the news about it.

Talks with East Sussex Adult Social Care staff, independent sector care providers, NHS colleagues and wider stakeholders will follow in the new year, informed by what people have said are their priorities via the survey and the focus groups.

Latest equality survey wants to learn about you to aid service delivery

Refreshed ‘About You’ equality surveys have been launched by East Sussex County Council to ensure its policies, services and activities are fair, accessible and inclusive to all members of staff and service users.

Confidential data collected through the equality monitoring surveys help the County Council understand who accesses its services (or not) and how experiences vary among the county’s different groups and workforce.

The County Council uses the answers from the surveys to:

  • Identify trends or gaps to compare the response with local population data, and review access to and outcomes of services
  • Ensure barriers to a service are removed, including holding meetings in an accessible venue or providing all written information in advance
  • Identify where there is a need for action, define what action is needed, implement it and then monitor whether it achieves the desired improvement

PNA report shows East Sussex’s pharmaceutical needs are satisfactory

Essential pharmaceutical services in each local authority across East Sussex are satisfactory, according to the latest Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) report.

The report, which did not identify gaps in essential pharmacy services in the county, was conducted using detailed travel time analyses and local surveys of pharmacy providers and dispensaries.

The report informs NHS England’s decisions about opening new pharmacies and commissioning of pharmaceutical services, including the development and improvement of pharmaceutical services in East Sussex.

The PNA report was approved by East Sussex County Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board on 29 September.

A number of recommendations were made by the Board following the approval of the PNA report, including:

  • Improving choice in the evenings and weekends could be achieved by commissioning an extended hours service from existing providers, particularly in Lewes, Rother and Wealden council areas
  • Better access to necessary services in evenings and at weekends could also be enabled by improvements in public transport in rural East Sussex
  • Current plans for housing developments in the county would not require a new pharmacy

Trends in the number of pharmacies have shown a gradual reduction at national and regional level since the last report in 2017.

The public consultation indicated that the purpose of the PNA report is well understood and is sufficient in informing the NHS about market entry decisions and commissioning future services.

Listen to the latest NHS Sussex News podcasts

A series of podcasts by NHS Sussex are available by searching for ‘NHS Sussex News’ and freely subscribing or following it so you never miss the latest episode.

The NHS Sussex News podcast is available on all major podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and Deezer. You can also hear the latest episode on your Alexa smart-speaker by saying: “Alexa, enable NHS Sussex News” and then in the future “Alexa, play NHS Sussex News”.

Recent podcasts include an interview with Bert Williams MBE who is President and co-founder of Brighton & Hove Black History Month.

Bert celebrates the contribution of ethnically diverse communities to our society – including within health and care services – as NHS Sussex celebrated and supported Black History Month in October.

There is also a chat with Sussex GP Ragu Rajan who explains about some of the things we can all do to help reduce the pressure on the NHS this winter, including using the 111 service or seeing your local pharmacist for advice and guidance.

What is social prescribing? It’s all about getting connected

Have you heard of social prescribing? It’s a term that’s been used a lot by health and social care organisations over the last few years, but what does it actually mean?

When you think of prescribing you probably think of medicine, but social prescribing means getting connected to non-medical things that can boost your health and wellbeing. This could be activities, support groups, volunteers, services, and other opportunities. Continue reading →

Even more reasons to love your local library

We all know about libraries, but how well do you really know your local library?

East Sussex County Council has 17 libraries in East Sussex. You might think of a calm, warm and relaxing environment packed with fascinating, educational, and inspiring books – and you’d be right – but there’s so much more going on behind those doors.

Did you know the library can help you meet new people, or that it supports adults learning to read or who’d like to grow their IT skills, or that the library can even come to you? All for free! Of course, you can always still pop in and just relax, soak up the atmosphere or meet a friend.

Here’s some of the brilliant things on offer from local libraries across East Sussex.

Continue reading →

Improving health and care services for LGBTQ+ people in East Sussex

One of our top priorities in East Sussex is to reduce health inequalities, and to help people stay healthy and well for as long as possible. To help us do this we need to understand the health needs and experiences of different groups of people within our community.

Over the last year East Sussex County Council has been working closely with a range of partners to understand local lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer + (LGBTQ+) people’s experiences of health, accessing services, and how COVID-19 has impacted them. Continue reading →

How are you feeling?

Have you taken a moment recently to stop and check in on how you’re feeling? In the distraction of daily life, it can be easy to miss some of the signs our minds and bodies give us to slow down and take care of ourselves, or when things aren’t quite right.

Sometimes at mild levels the symptoms of anxiety and depression can be hard to spot, do any of these sound familiar?

  • You find it hard to stop worrying
  • You feel nervous, on edge or more irritable
  • You’ve been feeling down or hopeless
  • You’ve lost interest or pleasure in doing things

You might notice some physical symptoms too. These can be things like not enough or very light sleep, feeling hot, sweating, or feeling on edge.

If these sound like you, it might be time to seek some help. Tackling issues at an earlier stage means quicker access to treatment and can help stop things from getting worse. Continue reading →