Two NHS organisations to merge from April

A number of people are resigning, with many being reappointed as progress is made on the merger

Key NHS organisations in Sussex and Surrey will merge to form a new Integrated Care Board (ICB) from next April.

NHS Sussex, also known as the Sussex ICB, is merging with NHS Surrey Heartlands. ICBs commission health services from providers, mainly NHS trusts, and set local priorities.

The footprint of the new organisation will include parts of the current Frimley ICB, but NHS Sussex has stressed that this is not a merger with Frimley.

These changes are part of the latest round of reforms which include the abolition of NHS England and scrapping of Healthwatch, a network of independent patient voice watchdogs.

A report to Brighton & Hove City Council's Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee said that a number of people were resigning, with many being reappointed as the progress is made in merging the ICBs.

This has been denied by NHS Sussex, which has said a mutually agreed resignation scheme was offered to staff for them to leave the organisation ahead of the future changes.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, both NHS Surrey Heartlands and NHS Sussex ICBs now have a joint chair, Ian Smith, and a joint chief executive, Karen McDowell.

The chair of NHS Sussex, Stephen Lightfoot, who said that hundreds of jobs would go when the proposals were announced in July, retired at the end of September.

Both Mr Smith and Ms McDowell are already in post, while the chief executive of NHS Sussex, Adam Doyle, has become chief executive of NHS Kent and Medway.

The report added: "A mutually agreed resignation scheme, launched in September, has now concluded across the NHS Sussex and NHS Surrey Heartlands ICBs.

"The ICBs are working to manage the impact of these departures, including careful consideration of the work that needs to be prioritised, so that we can continue to deliver for our population.

"Supporting staff remains a key commitment," it said.