Date: 30/03/2010
Today's decision by the boards of NHS Lambeth and NHS Southwark that Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is the preferred partner on behalf of King's Health Partners (see later) for the formal integration of community services in Lambeth and Southwark marks a historic moment in the development of health services in southeast London.
NHS Lambeth and NHS Southwark agreed in December 2009 to work together to find a partner for their respective community services as part of a change process that aims to drive improvements in health and wellbeing services and to reduce health inequalities across the two boroughs.
Commenting on the decision, NHS Lambeth chair Caroline Hewitt says:
"In choosing Guy’s and St Thomas’ as our preferred partner we today pass a significant milestone in the development of the best possible health services for the communities we serve.
"We believe that integration with Guy's and St Thomas' will help us deliver better patient care, achieve the vision and strategic objectives of our two PCTs and will be welcomed by staff.
NHS Southwark chair Mee Ling Ng says:
"Guy's and St Thomas' has an international reputation for excellence, innovation, effective service delivery and sound financial management.
"It equally has a well-established record of service to our local communities, and strong links with key partners such as our local councils. As a large and ambitious organisation it will also offer significant opportunities for staff development, helping them meet their professional aspirations."
Guy's and St Thomas' chairman Patricia Moberly says:
"We are delighted that NHS Lambeth and NHS Southwark have chosen us to be their preferred partner for the provision of many of the community health services used by local people.
"We firmly believe that closer integration between hospital and community services will bring many benefits to the many people who use our services."
The three parties will now work together to confirm the details before formal integration takes place by April 2011. This detailed work will include:
Creating the right governance structure to manage the process.
Engaging with local stakeholders, including patients and the public.
Developing a business case to be submitted to NHS London.
Managing the transfer of staff from the PCTs to Guy's and St Thomas'.
Community health includes services such as district nursing, health visiting, reproductive & sexual health, school nursing, specialist child health, elderly care and therapies such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy. These services are provided across the community in GP surgeries, health centres, schools, children's centres, patients' homes and residential and nursing homes.
Lambeth Community Health currently provides community services in Lambeth, and Southwark Provider Services provides community services in Southwark.
Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust provides a full range of general hospital services from two of the country's best known hospitals. It also provides a range of more specialist treatments, runs the Evelina Children's Hospital and is developing exciting plans for the future of cancer services.
With King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London, Guy's and St Thomas' was accredited as one of the UK's first academic health sciences centres, known as King’s Health Partners. Through this collaboration, King's Health Partners are committed to bringing together health service delivery, health research and teaching to deliver the best possible care and treatment for the benefit of local people.
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