Introduction
In April 2021 after a long period of collaborative working, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust (BSUH) merged with Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WSHT) to form University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust (UHSussex).
UHSussex is one of the largest organisations in the NHS, and one of its newest. That status gives us huge potential but brings with it some significant challenges too. Our predecessor trusts joined forces to unlock new opportunities that were beyond their reach individually and to develop the resources needed to meet their communities’ future healthcare needs. We have been taking our first steps towards that in the most difficult period in NHS history, but are confident that we have laid strong foundations for success.
UHSussex NHS Foundation Trust provides outstanding care to the people of West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and parts of East Sussex. As one of the largest acute Trusts in the UK, our seven hospitals host more than 1.5 million outpatient appointments, A&E visits, and surgery cases every year and we employ nearly 20,000 staff and we have a revenue budget of circa £1.4bn and a capital plan of over £1m.
We run seven hospitals across Chichester, Worthing, Shoreham, Brighton and Haywards Heath:
- Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton (RSCH)
- Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath (PRH)
- Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton (SEH)
- Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, Brighton (RACH)
- St Richard’s Hospital, Chichester (SRH)
- Southlands Hospital, Shoreham-by-Sea
- Worthing Hospital, Worthing (WHG)
We also provide services at a number of satellite locations.
We have also made important early investments in services. In 2022/23, our £120 million capital programme delivered major improvements in everything from diagnostics and cancer care to medical equipment and laundry. Most significantly, in June 2023 we began moving into the new Louisa Martindale Building at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, which will provide modern, spacious facilities for more than 100,000 patients a year.
Our greatest asset, though, is our people. Their dedication and ingenuity have enabled us to make great progress in reducing delays in access to treatment caused by Covid-19. The number of people waiting more than 78 weeks, for example, fell from 12,000 to under 300 in just seven months. We have also halved ambulance handover times at our A&E units and are outperforming national standards for cancer diagnosis, despite a 25% increase in urgent referrals since 2019.
To build on this progress, we continue to invest in giving our people the skills they need to identify improvements that will make the biggest difference to patient care, and the support to make them happen. We are also acutely aware of the impact the demands of the pandemic and its aftermath have placed on staff, and have expanded our health and wellbeing programme to help all colleagues take care of themselves and each other.
These pressures, alongside high levels of need for hospital care, stretched staffing and difficulties discharging patients who are ready to leave us into more appropriate settings, have meant our performance overall is not where we want it to be. This was reflected in the lowering of our Care Quality Commission rating from Outstanding to Requires Improvement in April 2023. We recognise very clearly that there is much for us to do, but as the CQC acknowledged, we have the skills and approach to improve. UHSussex is set up to succeed and has its predecessors’ strong track record of improvement to build on. We look forward to a bright future ahead.
3Ts (Teaching, Trauma and Tertiary care)
The 3Ts hospital redevelopment project is currently underway at Brighton.
Now completed the first stage of this project this will provide state-of-the-art accommodation for more than 40 wards and departments. The project will improve patient experience across its services and will support the Trust’s role as a district general hospital, specialist tertiary centre, teaching hub and major trauma centre.
Phase 2 and 3 will provide a new cancer centre within Sussex and a much needed logistics centre for the Trust.
Our journey towards excellence
Patient First
Patient First is our strategy for the whole Trust. It’s the lens through which we view all our decisions and it provides us with the tools we need to build on the success of our two legacy Trusts and continue to improve for the benefit of patients, the public and our people.
Our Patient First strategy identifies our True North priorities under six strategic themes:
Patient First encompasses the Trust’s vision and values. It provides an integrated model which defines the vision, strategy, and goals for the organisation. It embeds improvement in operational delivery, and has established an integrated performance management and assurance system.
With clear True North objectives, attainable but ambitious breakthrough objectives and a series of strategic initiatives and corporate projects to deliver, we know we can achieve all we have set out to achieve.
We are committed to training every leader in Patient First to help them identify how their services can contribute to the achievement of our objectives. Every service will also receive training in our Patient First Improvement System (PFIS) to identify their opportunities for improvement. Patient First is instrumental in guiding our clinical strategy development, our restoration and recover programme and in ensuring continuous improvement is seen as something every member of staff working at UHSussex feels they are part of.
A new Trust – realising the benefits
As a single, large Trust covering a wide geographical area and with seven high quality hospitals providing a comprehensive range of services, we are confident we can deliver significant benefits for patients, the public and staff:
Better for patients
- Continued commitment to always improving care through Patient First approach
- Safeguarding local delivery of acute services in Sussex, such as A&E and maternity care
- Development of all existing specialties, such as cancer, paediatrics and trauma
- Development of more specialist services in Sussex, reducing travel to other areas
- More integrated care, improving patient experience and access to services
- Stronger support for population health, preventative care and NHS Long Term Plan
Better for staff
- Better career opportunities for staff, supporting retention and recruitment
- Clear leadership, governance and structures to improve organisational responsiveness
- Investment in Patient First to empower staff at every level to make improvements
- Enhanced education, training, research and innovation opportunities
- Strengthened support networks for LGBTQ+, BAME, disabled and other staff groups
Better for Sussex
- A financially secure acute Hospital Trust, accountable to its members
- Investment in new and existing hospital services, according to local need
- A commitment to reducing energy, waste, pollution, plastic and carbon emissions
- An NHS employer of choice for nearly 20,000 people
People Plan
Key to the success of our new Trust is the development of a new People Plan. The purpose of the People Plan is to address the aspirations of the new Trust and align Trust values. The plan has four themes:
Inclusion and diversity
At UHSussex, we are committed to supporting inclusion for our workforce, patients, service users and visitors. Our colleagues come from 101 different countries, differing genders, sexual orientations, ages, religious beliefs/non beliefs, abilities and political affiliations.
We celebrate the diversity of our workforce, because we believe this strength makes us better able to meet the needs of our patients and service users.
We all have a part to play in ensuring that we attract the very best candidates to work within our hospitals, and we encourage open and honest dialogue so we can learn from people’s lived experiences.
Board Composition
Our Board comprises of the Chair and fellow non executives along with the Chief Executive and fellow executive directors. NHS Foundation Trusts are required to have a majority of non executive members on its Board. UHSussex has taken the decision to also have an associate Non Executive Director as route to supporting those with an desire to becoming a Non Executive.
Whilst our Board is composed of Non Executives and Executives the Board collectively have unitary responsibility for Strategy, Performance and Culture. The Executives undertake the management of the Trust.
Executive structure
