Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group and West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group have awarded the NHS contract for community health services to West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, in a bid to improve service integration.
The Trust will be working in partnership with Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust and Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, and began the new contract earlier this month.
Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group and West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group have awarded the NHS contract for community health services to West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, in a bid to improve service integration.
The Trust will be working in partnership with Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust and Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, and began the new contract earlier this month.
The contract – taken over from Serco and lasting one year – covers a range of adult community services, specialist children’s services and community hospitals.
Nick Hulme, chief executive of The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust said: “This is an historic week for both Ipswich Hospital and the NHS locally. My belief is that fragmented health systems can and often do lead to fragmented care and poor use of resources. There is much written about integration in health and social care systems and it means different things to different people. For me it is quite simple to explain even if it is very difficult to deliver. Care should be provided as close to people’s homes as possible. Hospital care should only be for people who have a condition that requires acute care and when every other option has been exhausted.
"Currently our system is not designed to provide this. Our ambition is to play our part in redesigning healthcare in the town and across the county. By supporting our colleagues in the community, who currently do a great job, to care for people with more acute conditions, and to make sure the resources are provided both to avoid admissions and reduce the length of time people are in our beds, we will ensure people are cared for in the most appropriate place."
Serco, a national public service provider, held the contract for three years but chose not to bid for the contract.
Abi Tierney, director of development at Serco Health said: “I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved over the past three years and thank the team for all their hard work and dedication. Serco today hands over a safe and high-performing service which 99% of patients and carers would recommend to their friends and family."
