Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee
Agenda Item 26
Subject: Sussex-Wide Winter Plan 2022-23
Date of meeting: 23 November 2022
Report of: Executive Director, Governance, People & Resources
Contact Officer: Name: Giles Rossington
Tel: 01273 295514
Email: giles.rossington@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Ward(s) affected: All
1.1 This report, and the appendix provided by NHS Sussex, outlines the development of the NHS Sussex Winter Plan 2022-23 and includes details on planning specific to Brighton & Hove.
1.2 The report sets out the system’s strategic approach to dealing with seasonal demand surges in line with the expectations of NHS England.
2.1 That Committee notes the contents of this report.
3.1 The overall purpose of the winter plan is to ensure that the system is able to effectively manage the capacity and demand pressures anticipated during the Winter period. The Winter planning period covers the period October 2022 to 31 March 2023. The plan should ensure that the local systems remain resilient and are able to manage demand surge effectively, maintain patient safety and support delivery of the relevant business plan objectives and locally agreed system improvements during this period.
3.2 Health and care systems typically experience increased demand pressures during the winter months due to a number of factors including:
· Seasonal illnesses (e.g. flu, norovirus)
· Potential Covid-19 waves
· Extreme weather (e.g. falls in icy conditions)
· Exacerbation of respiratory illnesses and a range of long term conditions due to cooler weather.
3.3 Adding to pressures in 2022/23 are the threat of a resurgence of Covid 19; the potential for a challenging flu season with reduced community immunity; continuing impacts of NHS elective backlogs built-up during the Covid waves of recent years; and the potential for the cost of living crisis to increase risks for people already clinically vulnerable to colder weather if they are unable to keep warm or well fed.
3.4 Health and care systems have been planning systemically for winter surge pressures for a number of years, and typically a key part of this process is assessing how well the previous year’s plans met demand, using learning from this to inform the subsequent year’s planning. The HOSC will schedule an update report in Spring/Summer 2023 to better understand the success of the current winter plan and the lessons learnt for succeeding years.
4.1 Not relevant for this information report.
5.1 None directly for this report. However, the Sussex-wide winter plan is a partnership endeavour, with input from partners across the system including the Local Authority, providers and commissioners.
6.1 Members are asked to note health and care system plans to deal with winter pressures.
7.1 There are no financial implications for this report for information.
8.1 No legal implications have been identified in this report.
Name of lawyer consulted: Elizabeth Culbert Date consulted (01/11/22):
9.1.1 The aims of effective collaborative winter plan arrangements are to ensure that local health and care systems are able to continue to deliver the totality of services that have been developed to meet the needs of the local population which would be in line with agreed local and national strategies and priorities. An Equality Impact Assessment is not appropriate for this paper. Where services are further developed to support delivery during the winter period EIAs will be undertaken.
10.1 The Sussex-Wide winter plan considers how best to use NHS and local authority resources across Sussex in order to cope with seasonal demand surges for health and care services. Any negative carbon impacts of these plans (e.g. through people potentially having to travel further from home to access services where local capacity is stretched) need to be considered. However this needs to be balanced against the risks to individuals of not being able to access appropriate health or care.
Supporting Documentation
1. NHS Sussex Winter Plan, Report for HOSC, November 2022