News Release : 05 November 2001

SEARCH FOR SOLUTION TO SOUTH EAST HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE PROBLEMS

The performance of the Health and Social Care services in the South East came under close scrutiny from members of the South East England Regional Assembly at a recent meeting of the Healthy Region Forum in London (Wednesday, 31 October 2001).

Lucy Hadfield, Director of Development at NHS Executive South East Regional Office, gave a presentation to the Forum which revealed a number of shocking facts about state of the health and social care service in the South East:

Hospital waiting lists have increased by 1.7% since March 2001

Hospital use rates in the South East are lower than the England average

9% of acute beds in the South East are blocked by delayed transfers of care

Funding available in the South East for purchasing community care services for older people is 15.71% below the government spending allocations

There has been a 7% decrease in the number of residential care home and nursing home places in the South East
Said Lucy Hadfield: "The South East Regional Office of the NHS Executive has put a number of both short-term and long-term actions in place to help stem any further deterioration in the health service and move it towards improvement. Short term measures include performance improvement plans in trusts which have the greatest problems; £13 million of funding for hospitals with high levels of acute bed occupancy; the creation of diagnostic and treatment centres to separate elective and emergency surgery treatment and a pilot scheme for patients to be treated in mainland Europe."

Said Paul Bevan, Chief Executive, South East England Regional Assembly: "Today's presentation, and the discussion which followed, highlighted the fact that many of the problems facing the National Health Service in the South East are very complex and are often beyond the direct control of the local health and social care systems.

" An example of this is the effect which London, and its health service demands, have on the South East. Many of the places in residential care and nursing homes in the South East are taken by London councils which are allocated more to spend per head than their neighbouring South East councils. The result of this is that over 70% of South East councils have an insufficient supply of places in residential care and nursing homes.

"The Healthy Region Forum, through the South East England Regional Assembly, intends to work with the regions' local authorities to develop a constructive dialogue with London on these critical issues."

The Forum also included presentations by Dr Mike Gill, Regional Director of Public Health on "Shifting the Balance of Power within the NHS" and by Mike Attwood, Chief Executive of the Slough Primary Care Trust and Cheryl Coppell, Chief Executive of Slough Borough Council on the development of the Primary Care Trust system in Slough.

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
   
   
2. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
   
   
3. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
   
   
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
   
   
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007

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