Last annual budget £360 million Chair David Clayton Smith Website East Sussex Healthcare Phone +44 1323 417400 | Employees 7500 Chief Executive Dr Adrian Bull Care Quality Commission reports CQC | |
Address King's Dr, Eastbourne BN21 2UD, UK Profiles | ||
Digital transformation in the public sector east sussex healthcare nhs trust
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust runs Conquest Hospital in St Leonards-on-Sea, Eastbourne District General Hospital, Bexhill Hospital, Lewes Victoria Hospital, Rye Memorial Hospital and Uckfield Community Hospital, all in East Sussex, England.
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Facilities
The trust announced in November 2012 that stroke services should be centralised on the Eastbourne District General Hospital site and emergency and higher risk planned general surgery, and emergency and higher risk planned orthopaedics would be located at the Conquest Hospital.
Crowborough Birthing Centre, which was temporarily shut in November 2013, changed hands and is now run by Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust which runs Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury and Maidstone Hospital.
Performance
In December 2013 the Trust was one of thirteen hospital trusts named by Dr Foster Intelligence as having higher than expected higher mortality indicator scores for the period April 2012 to March 2013 in their Hospital Guide 2013.
The Trust predicts a deficit of £19.4m in 2013-14.
In April 2014 High Weald Lewes Havens Clinical Commissioning Group served 12 months’ notice on their £18m a year community services contract with the Trust because of concerns about “the access to and consistency of NHS community services”. A report to the commissioner’s March board meeting mentioned “ad hoc and unnotified” closures of the trust’s minor injury service, “inequitable access” to district nursing, and “intermittent closure” of a midwifery-led unit. The CCG says the financial problems of the Trust could mean “there is a risk that the provider may seek to take short term decisions that reduce the equitable provision of community services to save cost. Equally, there is a risk that services could be deemed, ‘unsafe’ because of staffing issues.” The CCGs in Eastbourne and Hastings are continuing their contracts with the Trust, but High Weald are putting their community services contract out to tender.
The Care Quality Commission raised concerns over outpatient records and surgical practices at Eastbourne District General Hospital after an inspection in September 2014. It also found that safety and leadership was inadequate. The leaders of the trust were subsequently urged to resign by the East Sussex County Council health overview and scrutiny committee and by Hastings Borough Council.
After a further CQC inspection which found a “void” between the “board perception” and “reality of working at the trust” the trust was put into special measures and Stuart Welling, the Chair, resigned. The trust paid a firm called Prederi £45,000 to help with its recovery plan.
In February 2016 it was expecting a deficit of £48.7 million for the year.
In March 2016 the Trust was ranked bottom in the Learning from Mistakes League. It was put into special measures in October 2016.