Surrey healthcare providers join forces to create new adults community NHS health service

Joint statement from NHS Surrey Downs CCG, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, CSH Surrey, GP Health Partners, Dorking Healthcare and Surrey Medical Network

Friday 21 December 2018. On 1 January 2019 the Integrated Dorking, Epsom and East Elmbridge Alliance (known as IDEEA), takes on responsibility for providing adult community services in the Surrey Downs area. 

This pioneering partnership brings together Epsom and St Helier Trust to deliver services in partnership with the three local GP federations and CSH Surrey. 

We are keen to mobilise the new service as soon as we can so patients can start benefiting from a fully integrated community service and 1 January 2019 will be the start of a transition period into the new service, which will become fully integrated by April. This will ensure both continuity of care for patients and staff, and provide a realistic timescale for us to move to the new ways of working we have all committed to.

In a joint statement Daniel Elkeles, Chief Executive of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust and Dr Hilary Floyd, Lead GP for Epsom area GP Federation said:

“Historically, there have been boundary lines between the organisations that provide care to people in their homes, in the GP surgeries and in hospitals, but we have always been in united in our mission to provide great care to the people who need us. It’s on those grounds that the IDEEA partnership was brought together. We want local people to receive the care that they need in the right environment.” 

Steve Flanagan, Chief Executive of CSH Surrey adds: “We are delighted to be part of the IDEEA Partnership and to contribute our experience of delivering community services over the last 12 years. Combining our expertise with the Trust and GP Federations will improve patient care and will enable the local people to access the right support, care and treatment more easily than ever before."

The IDEEA model will include developing six localities in the Surrey Downs area (otherwise known as primary care networks), which will bring GPs and community nurses and therapists together with hospital based staff and hopefully in the future social care and mental health staff to provide proactive care to patients who have complicated medical conditions and those who are frail and elderly.

The localities will:

  • Support people in their homes and those living in care homes  
  • Deploy the most appropriate staff member(s) in a co-ordinated and timely way to patients
  • Reduce risk of hospital admission for patients when it is not needed
  • Work closely with the IDEEA community hospitals and specialist teams, as required.

Colin Thompson, Managing Director of Surrey Downs Clinical Commissioning Group (which commissioned the new service), added:

“We’ve spent a great deal of time working with GPs and health professionals, local people and our partners to design this innovative new service that will be more personalised, and more joined up, with local partners working together to improve care for local people so we’re really excited to be working with the IDEEA partnership as we transition into the new service.”