East Sussex HWB SDP priority

Date

What we will achieve

We will continue to deliver our agreed whole system action plans on cardiovascular disease (CVD), Chronic Respiratory Disease (CRD), healthy ageing and frailty and mental health prevention, and monitor progress on a quarterly basis through the Health Outcomes Improvement Oversight Board, with a deep dive into one priority area each quarter.

We will ensure that the health outcomes improvement and learning are used to inform ICT implementation and address variation in outcomes.

March 26

Improved outcomes for the population

Q2 progress summary

All major projects within the Health Outcomes Improvement Programme remain on track to meet year-end milestones. Key activity during Quarter 2 includes:

Falls Prevention Campaign - the Stay Strong, Stay Steady, Stay Independent campaign launched during Falls Awareness Week in mid-September. More than 300 adults took part in five events across Hastings, Bexhill and Etchingham. A total of 312 participants received anti-slip slippers along with brief advice on physical activity, strength and balance, and practical tips to reduce the risk of falls.

Age-Friendly Communities - collaborative work with Hastings Borough Council and Rother District Council has led to the appointment of new leads to develop their Age Friendly Communities programmes.

Respiratory Health Support - funding has been secured to maintain and expand pulmonary maintenance support for Eastbourne Breathe Easy and Bexhill Breathers. This includes two additional classes per week. Significant planning has also been completed for respiratory winter-readiness events scheduled for October and November 2025.

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) Prevention - work continues to update the East Sussex CVD prevention plan, with wider input now being gathered from system partners.

Mental Health Peer Support - ongoing work is strengthening the evidence base for peer-support approaches for people experiencing mental health challenges in East Sussex. This includes reviewing the effectiveness of peer-support interventions and engaging with stakeholders to better understand existing peer-support offers across a range of local settings.

East Sussex HWB SDP priority

Date

What we will achieve

We will continue to strengthen the strategic stewardship role and vision of the Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) through completing our programme of development sessions aimed at growing a deeper shared understanding of our population health and care needs and strengths, and understanding how well we are working together as a system to improve outcomes.

Building on the work on system stewardship in 24/25, we will ensure our East Sussex Health and Care Partnership is operating effectively across our system at Place, with accountability to the HWB for our strategic planning and operational collaboration in our local communities.

March 26

A clear focus and approach across all partners.

Q2 progress summary

The fifth informal HWB development session, held on 25 September, focused on reducing health inequalities and assessing impact using the East Sussex Shared Outcomes Framework. During the session, a pilot report covering 28 outcome measures was presented. These indicators and measures have since been updated to support an initial report based on the most recent reporting period.

A summary briefing from the session is available on East Sussex in Figures – Data Observatory – JSNA – JSNA: Health and Wellbeing Board briefing notes

Progress on the planned review of Place-based Partnership governance has been affected by wider Integrated Care Board (ICB) staffing reductions and a delay to the restructure aligned with the model blueprint, due to concerns about in-year costs. In the interim, work has focused on:

·         Reviewing the national 10-Year Health Plan, published in July, to clarify expectations for the role of Place and HWBs

·         Successfully securing a place in the National Neighbourhood Health Programme

·         Providing a comprehensive response to the ICB’s 2026/27 commissioning intentions consultation

The review and redesign of our Place-based health and care governance will now take place during 2026/27 to ensure it remains fit for purpose, with implementation planned to begin from January 2026.

East Sussex HWB SDP priority

Date

What we will achieve

We will continue to enhance support to parents and carers and families to enable the best start in life and ensure service improvements, including pathway and service redesign, are effectively implemented to improve the health and wellbeing and life chances of children and young people.

March 26

Improved experience and increased opportunities to support our most vulnerable families.

Q2 progress summary

All milestones remain on track to meet objectives by year-end, and key activity during Quarter 2 includes:

Neurodevelopmental Pathways - A pilot is being developed of a streamlined approach to assessing ADHD and autism, aimed at improving assessments. This complements work with families and stakeholders to co-produce the Support Whilst Waiting information, to ensure children and young people have access to helpful guidance while they await assessments.

Children’s Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health - Efforts are underway to standardise information, advice, and guidance (IAG) to help young people and their families access the right support while waiting for services. Additionally, the Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) are being evaluated to understand their impact and identify ways to improve service delivery.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) - implementing improvements identified in the ASEND inspection and progressing SEND reforms so that children with additional needs receive timely, coordinated, and high-quality support across education and health services.

Children in Care and Care Leavers - delivering an action plan that reviews current health services for children in care and care leavers and identifies gaps in provision, to ensure that vulnerable young people have equitable access to the health support they need.

Physical Health - our physical health priorities use the Core20plus5 approach for children and young people to target key areas such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, oral health, and mental health. The current focus includes early years (0-3 age-group) dental access, including prevention pilots and the supervised toothbrushing project, alongside efforts to raise awareness and promote these initiatives across services.

East Sussex HWB SDP priority

Date

What we will achieve

We will implement integrated delivery of community mental health services and a wider range of earlier mental health support for adults of all ages and people with dementia, through delivering functional Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams (NMHTs) and ensuring their alignment with emerging Integrated Community Teams, in line with the Sussex-wide approach, as well as improving access and outcomes in supported accommodation and capitalising on opportunities presented by the planned opening of the new Coombe Valley Hospital.

March 26

Reduced reliance on specialist services and improved population health and wellbeing

Q2 progress summary

Neighbourhood Mental Health Teams (NMHTs) - staff training has started to enable use of the shared patient record system, which is planned to go live in Q3. This will be supported by a Standard Operating Procedure which has been developed and agreed, outlining team and individual responsibilities for achieving clinical and system outcomes within the new multi-disciplinary teams working at neighbourhood level.

Housing - KPIs are being developed, including benchmarking against neighbouring local authorities, to better understand how collaboration between clinicians and supported housing providers can reduce placement breakdowns.

Mental Health and Prevention - work is underway to implement recommendations of our report into preventing trauma-related mental health difficulties and impacts in East Sussex, including developing a Trauma-Informed Framework in partnership with key leads working across Sussex.

Evidence is being gathered to clarify the role and contribution of peer support in the prevention or worsening of mental health problems, and recovery.

Older People’s Mental Health - Evidence reviews on risk factors, dementia prevention, carers, care homes, and mental health literacy have been completed, and a survey of primary care providers is underway to inform improvements to assessment and support pathways for older people’s mental health.

East Sussex HWB SDP priority

Date

What we will achieve

We will support the move to a neighbourhood health service that delivers more care at or closer to home through our five Integrated Community Teams (ICTs) across East Sussex. In line with ICTs across Sussex, this will focus on providing proactive, joined-up care for people who require support from multiple services and organisations; improved access to local health and care services and, improving the health and wellbeing of our population through an asset-based approach.

March 26

In year plan delivered.

Q2 progress summary

East Sussex was successful in coordinating a multi-agency collaborative bid to join wave 1 of National Neighbourhood Health Implementation Programme, an opportunity launched in July 2025 following publication of the Government’s 10 Year Health Plan. The programme is initially focussed on Hastings and Rother.

Our joint ICT Management & Planning Groups have continued to meet bi-monthly across our 5 ICT footprints, to grow our capacity to support shared day-to-day management, planning and coordination of our system resources at ICT level, with good attendance from across system partners. Discussions have enabled a better shared understanding of the ICB commissioning intentions for 26/27 which were published in August 2026, and the potential role and contribution of ICTs, as well as developing their joint work plans focussed on improving access, prevention and MDT-working

Working with the Sussex NHS Neighbourhood Alliance - which brings together East Sussex Healthcare NHST Trust, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and the Sussex Primary Care Provider Collaborative - we’ve supported the initial work to implement multi-disciplinary working for people with more complex health and care needs in East Sussex.

This aims to provide better coordinated and joined-up care to those identified by a risk stratification tool as having a high risk of unplanned hospital admission and establishing MDT-working at a neighbourhood level to provide a more holistic and proactive care offer over the winter period.

East Sussex HWB SDP priority

Date

What we will achieve

We will continue to embed efficiency and process learning from transformation programmes into ‘business as usual’ to further strengthen efficient hospital discharge processes, supported by digital automation, with a long-term funding plan for discharge capacity

March 26

More people will be able to be discharged safely to a community setting.

Q2 progress summary

The system has continued to work together to make hospital discharges smoother and reduce the number of patients staying in our acute hospital beds longer than needed, due to having complex onward health and care needs. Funding for improvements to hospital discharge is now fully a part of the Better Care Fund, supporting Home First pathways and Discharge to Assess beds, with a small portion set aside to maintain flexibility, particularly during winter.

For the first half of 2025/26, initiatives have included support to keep patients more active in hospital, creating care coordination hubs, deploying Social Work Teams to support discharge pathways, and providing dedicated support for people who pay for their own care. These collaborative efforts have successfully reduced the number of patients staying in hospital unnecessarily. Continued success will depend on having enough community beds, suitable post-hospital support, and managing seasonal pressures like winter illnesses.

East Sussex HWB SDP priority

Date

What we will achieve

We will finalise, agree and implement our shared vision for the housing sector in East Sussex set out in the East Sussex Housing Partnership Strategy and mobilisation plan, with a strong focus on health, housing and care as part of a strategic partnership framework that complements the borough and district housing authority strategies.

March 26

A clear ambition for all partners

Q2 progress summary

Work is ongoing to finalise the East Sussex Housing Partnership Strategy, which was publicly consulted on during July - August 2025 via an online survey. The strategy aligns local housing authority plans and aims to strengthen partnership working amid devolution and local government reorganisation. The recent public sector spending review announced support for affordable housing, improved standards, and homelessness prevention, with local funding details expected in autumn.

The Housing Partnership has reviewed feedback from the public engagement on the draft strategy over the summer. In summary stakeholders broadly support increasing affordable housing, particularly smaller units, and ensuring commitments are met, alongside bringing empty properties back into use and including green spaces in new developments. Concerns focus on infrastructure capacity, impacts on greenfield land, local authority ability to manage standards, and the need for consistent housing quality. There is strong support for homelessness prevention, and ensuring people can keep their existing homes, and for better coordination between homelessness, mental health, and substance dependency services.

A Housing Partnership response has also been coordinated and submitted to the national consultation on a reformed decent homes standard for social and privately rented homes, social rent convergence and minimum energy performance standards.