Agenda item - Member Involvement

(a)       A member letter has been submitted by Cllr Raphael Hill (copy attached).

5.1      Cllr Hill presented a member letter:

Since 2022, Brighton & Hove has been part of the NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB), one of 42 ICBs in England. As part of the plan to abolish NHS England, funding for ICBs is being cut by 50%. The Chair of NHS Sussex, Stephen Lightfoot has put forward plans to merge the Sussex ICB with the Surrey Heartland ICB to realise cost savings necessary to make this 50% cut possible. This is based on the need to now operate within an annual cost

of £18.76 per head of population which is not possible within the current ICB framework.

 I would therefore like to have a future item to this committee which would allow us to ask questions of senior members of the integrated care board so as to help us and the public understand the implications of this change. This is likely to have wide reaching consequences. I have concerns that such a large integrated care board means there could be a lack of local connection. There will be issues with the new Sussex strategic authority boundaries which will not be coterminous with the new ICB proposal.

I have attached a letter by Stephen Lightfoot which goes into more detail which I recommend members read.

5.2      The Chair responded:

I do agree that these are important issues, and I am happy to invite NHS Colleagues to explain the proposed changes at the next HOSC meeting. I will also ask for this to include a brief explanation of the NHS 10 Year Plan and what this may mean for local people’s healthcare.

I would also like to note that all members of Brighton Council Overview & Scrutiny committees should have recently received an invitation to a special scrutiny meeting on 31 July to talk about devolution and local government reorganisation with the Leader of the Council. How the emerging new model of local government in Sussex aligns with changing NHS organisational structures is certainly something we can discuss at this meeting.