 | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Clinical commissioning groups have been replaced with integrated care systems.(July 2022) |
Healthcare in Somerset, England was the responsibility of three clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) until July 2022. These covered the ceremonial county of Somerset, which comprises the areas governed by the three unitary authorities of Somerset, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset.
From 1947 to 1965, National Health Service services in Somerset were managed by the South-Western Regional Hospital Board. In 1965, a new board was formed for Wessex which also covered Somerset. In 1974, the boards were abolished and replaced by regional health authorities; the whole of Somerset came under the South West RHA. Regions were reorganised in 1996 and Somerset came under the South and West (Wessex and South Western) Regional Health Authority. Somerset had its own area health authority from 1974 until 1992.
Regional health authorities were reorganised and renamed strategic health authorities in 2002, with Somerset part of Dorset and Somerset SHA. In 2006, regions were again reorganised and Somerset came under NHS South West until that was abolished in 2013. There were three primary care trusts for the area: Bath & North East Somerset PCT, North Somerset PCT, and Somerset PCT. These trusts were abolished in 2013 and replaced by clinical commissioning groups, which were in turn abolished in 2022 and replaced by integrated care systems.
Somerset formed a sustainability and transformation plan area in March 2016 with Dr Matthew Dolman, the Chair of Somerset CCG, as its leader. Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire formed a separate sustainability and transformation plan area with Robert Woolley, Chief Executive of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, as its leader, [1] replaced by Stephen Ladyman in 2018. [2]
Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (which managed Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton) and Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (which was the area's mental health trust) merged in April 2020, forming Somerset NHS Foundation Trust which provides acute, community and mental health services. [3] [4]
In November 2020 plans were announced for a merger between Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The merger took place on 1 April 2023. [5] This has created England's first provider of primary, acute, community and mental health care services as Yeovil FT owns Symphony Healthcare — a subsidiary company which runs 12 GP practices. [6] From April 2023 there will only be one NHS trust in the entire integrated care system, which will run acute, community, mental health and a significant slice of the county’s primary care services. At the same time Somerset County Council and the county’s four district councils are merging to form a new unitary authority. [7]
The clinical commissioning groups covering Somerset until 2022 were: [8]
The CCG for Bath and North East Somerset proposed to set up a pooled budget with Bath and North East Somerset Council in August 2015. [9] Somerset CCG proposed to set up a "joint health and care board" with a "significantly pooled budget" with Somerset County Council and NHS England after it was rated inadequate in August 2017. [10]
The CCGs for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire merged in April 2018, [11] [8] and the Bath and North East Somerset CCG merged with the Swindon and Wiltshire CCGs in April 2020. [12]
There are 24 GP practices in Bath and North East Somerset as of 2020 [update] . [13] There are 25 in North Somerset CCG, while Somerset CCG has 63 practices grouped into nine GP federations.[ citation needed ]
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, now part of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, set up a subsidiary company, Symphony Healthcare Services, in 2016. It took over the running of three small practices, with a combined registered list of 12,500 in March 2016. Symphony was also forming a partnership with South Somerset Primary Healthcare, to manage an outcomes-based budget for the 120,000 population of South Somerset. [14] In February 2018, it was reported that there had been a 15.6% increase in the emergency admissions rate in the area between 2014/15 and the 12 months to September 2017. [15]
Yeovil walk-in centre opened in 2009 and was closed in 2017. Somerset CCG said too many people were misusing the town centre facility with relatively minor ailments that could be solved by a pharmacist or by ringing 111. It was replaced by an urgent care service at the hospital, open from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. [16]
Minehead Medical Centre, which has a patient population of 13,000 and around 50 staff, decided not to join the 15 other practices in Somerset which have opted to join Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust but adopted a “John Lewis” model, where every employee owns a non-tradeable share in the company at no extra cost to them. This share is held on their behalf by trustees of the organisation, who are chosen by the practice staff. [17]
The main providers of NHS acute hospital care in the county are Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust. Weston General Hospital is managed by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust.
Taunton and Somerset Foundation Trust and Somerset Partnership (the county's mental health trust) decided in June 2017 to set up a joint management team overseen by a single chief executive. [18] The same year, North Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group stated Weston Area Health Trust should become "part of a larger organisation" [19] and in 2018 it was announced that Weston General would merge into University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. [20] The merger completed on 1 April 2020.
NHS Mental Health services are provided by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
Somerset CCG were planning a significant reduction in community hospital beds provided by the partnership trust. In 2014 there were 312 beds but the CCG considered only 210 were needed, and they were also planning to procure an integrated service for patients with long term conditions. [21] It was also planning a health campus in Shepton Mallet which will have surgical and diagnostic services and medical assessment beds, where the service provider was expected to collaborate closely with local charities and voluntary groups. [22] In January 2020, Somerset CCG announced plans to close the 14-bed St Andrews unit in Wells and move the service to Yeovil, where it would be close to the hospital. A crisis cafe would be established in Wells, and another in Bridgwater. [23]
Since April 2010, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust has provided tiers 3 and 4 of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Bath and North East Somerset following a competitive tender. Previously this service had been operated primarily by the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. The service is jointly funded by the NHS and the local authority. [24]
Virgin Care won a seven-year contract to act as prime provider of community services in Bath and North East Somerset for an annual cost of £69.2 million in December 2016. This includes adult social work services, public health nursing, integrated reablement, speech and language therapy, continuing healthcare and children's community health; most of these services were previously run by Sirona Care & Health. It was intended that the services would be more "joined up" and focussed on preventative care, through setting up hubs aligned with GP practices. [25] In 2021, the services provided were reported to include two community hospitals, outpatients' clinics, and school nursing and immunisation services. [26] Extension of the contract to 2027 was expected to cost £54.5m per year. [26]
In 2019, Sirona Care & Health won a 10-year adult community services contract to start in April 2020. Previously it had provided the service jointly with Bristol Community Health and North Somerset Community Partnership. [27]
Palliative care in the county is provided by several charities. These include St. Margaret's Hospice, which operates from Taunton and Yeovil, [28] Weston Hospicecare in Weston-super-Mare, [29] Children's Hospice South West in Wraxall, and Dorothy House which is based at Winsley, near Bath. [30]
Healthwatch is an organisation set up under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to act as a voice for patients. There are three separate local Healthwatches in the county covering Somerset, North Somerset, and Bath and North East Somerset.
Weston General Hospital is an NHS district general hospital in the town of Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, operated by University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. As of June 2019, the hospital had 261 beds and around 1,800 clinical and non-clinical staff. It has a part-time Accident & Emergency department, an intensive care unit, an oncology and haematology day unit, and a day case unit. The hospital also has a 12-bed private unit, The Waterside Suite, wholly owned by the hospital trust, with profits being re-invested into the main hospital.
The Royal United Hospital (RUH) is a major acute-care hospital in the Weston suburb of Bath, England, which lies approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of the city centre. The hospital has 565 beds and occupies a 52 acres (21 ha) site. It is the area's major accident and emergency hospital, with a helicopter landing point on the adjacent Lansdown Cricket Club field. The hospital is operated by the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust.
Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust was a NHS trust that previously ran Yeovil District Hospital in Yeovil, Somerset, England. It provided acute care for a population of about 180,000, people living in South Somerset, North and West Dorset, and parts of Mendip. The hospital admits around 30,000 inpatients or day cases each year and treats more than 90,000 people in the outpatient appointments. Approximately 40,000 people are treated in Accident and Emergency and 1,300 babies are born in the maternity unit each year.
Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust (AWP) is an NHS mental health trust providing adult mental health and related services in Wiltshire and the former county of Avon, an area centred on Bristol.
Healthcare in the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area is largely provided by the National Health Service (NHS). Until July 2022, this was provided through the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire clinical commissioning group. Facilities include a large teaching hospital – Bristol Royal Infirmary – which offers nationally commissioned specialist cardiac, cancer and children's services from its city-centre campus to patients in the southwest of England and beyond.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust that provides physical, mental health and social care for people of all ages across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Swindon, Wiltshire, Bath and North East Somerset. Its services are delivered at community bases, hospitals, clinics and people's homes.
Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust was a National Health Service trust which managed mental health services in the English county of Somerset. The trust was formed in 2008, taking over the role from the Somerset Partnership NHS and Social Care Trust which had been operating since 1999. It merged with Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust to form Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in 2020.
Healthcare in Dorset was primarily the responsibility of Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group until July 2022. Dorset County Council is leading in the development of an electronic health record, to be called the Dorset Care Record, provided by Orion Health. It is intended to enable all health and social care providers to share records.
Healthcare in Devon was the responsibility of two clinical commissioning groups until July 2022, one covering Northern, Eastern and Western Devon, and one covering South Devon and Torbay. It was announced in November 2018 that the two were to merge.
Healthcare in Cumbria was the responsibility of Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group until July 2022. On 1 April 2017 32 GP practices left the CCG and merged with Lancashire North CCG to form Morecambe Bay CCG.
Healthcare in Kent has, from 1 July 2022, been mainly the responsibility of the Kent & Medway Integrated Care Board. Certain specialised services are directly commissioned by NHS England, coordinated through the South East integrated regional team. Some NHS England structures are aligned on a Kent and Medway basis, others on a South East basis and there is liaison with London to provide many tertiary healthcare services.
Healthcare in Bedfordshire is the responsibility of Bedfordshire and Luton Integrated Care Systems.
Sirona care & health CIC is a Community Interest Company based in Bath, Somerset which provides publicly funded health and social care services.
Healthcare in Staffordshire was the responsibility of six clinical commissioning groups until July 2022, covering Stafford & Surrounds, North Staffordshire, South East Staffordshire and Seisdon Peninsula, East Staffordshire, Cannock Chase, and Stoke-on-Trent.
Healthcare in Cornwall was until July 2022 the responsibility of Kernow clinical commissioning group, a National Health Service (NHS) organisation set up by the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to organise the delivery of NHS services in England. As far as the NHS is concerned, Cornwall includes the Isles of Scilly.
Healthcare in Gloucestershire was the responsibility of two clinical commissioning groups, covering Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, until July 2022. The health economy of Gloucestershire has always been linked with that of Bristol.
Healthcare in Wiltshire, England, is the responsibility of the integrated care board (ICB) for Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire.
Healthcare in Leicestershire was the responsibility of three clinical commissioning groups covering West Leicestershire, Leicester City and East Leicestershire and Rutland until July 2022. As far as the NHS is concerned Rutland is generally treated as part of Leicestershire.
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is a NHS foundation trust providing services for NHS England in Somerset, England. It manages a number of hospitals providing mental, community and acute hospital care across the whole county.