Bringing together community, mental health and learning disability services
Updated March 2024
We have made good progress in moving closer to realising our new Trust. Over the last few months interviews have been taking place and we can now name our full Executive team. The new Trust was going to take effect on 1 April this year, however we have revised the timeline to allow a little more time to finalise preparations and ensure as smooth a transition as possible. The plan now is that we will complete the integration in phases:
- Hampshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services successfully transferred from Sussex Partnership on 1 February 2024
- We are now aiming for the Isle of Wight community, mental health and learning disability services to transfer to Southern Health on 1 May 2024
- We are aiming for the transfer of Solent NHS Trust services, and the creation of the new Trust, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, to take place on 1 July. This new Trust will encompass all services from Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and Solent NHS Trust, and the community, mental health and learning disabilities services from Isle of Wight NHS Trust.
It is also expected that we will move to closer alignment between boards and executive structures from April 2024, to begin delivering the benefits as soon as possible. All timelines are subject to regulatory approval and there will be further communication on board arrangements once confirmed.
Meet the new Executive Team for the new Trust We can announce that the Designate Executive team for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation have all been appointed.
Work on the project, now referred to as 'Project Fusion', is well under way. The latest developments, news, engagement opportunities and more can be found on the dedicated Project Fusion website: Home :: Project Fusion (hiow.nhs.uk)
A key priority for the NHS in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is ensuring that communities have equal access to services and have the opportunity to achieve the same outcomes. We know that over the coming years the demand for community and mental health services will increase. Our physical and mental health services are already responding to increasing need, both in terms of the number being referred and the complexity of issues they present with. Against this backdrop, continuing to improve and transform service provision, as well as having an even greater focus on integration between mental and physical health, is vitally important.
In January 2022, the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System commissioned an independent review of community and mental health services. The purpose of the review was to understand how to best meet the current and future demands of our local populations. The review looked carefully at the evidence and involved a range of clinicians, partners and stakeholders, as well as existing insight and feedback from people who use local community and mental health services.
The review resulted in five key recommendations which are being taken forward in a joint programme of work.
One of the review’s key recommendations is that a new organisation be formed, to bring together all NHS community and mental health services provided in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including services provided by Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, that delivers Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Hampshire.
The review makes the case that bringing together our services in this way would improve consistency of care between these services and organisations which are currently responsible for different parts of the care pathway. It would also improve equity of access to care. We believe that working even more closely together is the right approach for the benefit of our patients, their families and communities. The rationale for the recommendation is aligned with, and builds upon, the steps we have already taken to work more closely together. And, it will further enable our staff to work together to best meet the needs of the people they support.
Work on the project, now referred to as 'Project Fusion', is well under way. The latest developments, news, engagement opportunities and more can be found on the dedicated Project Fusion website: Home :: Project Fusion (hiow.nhs.uk)