Category: Consultations

East Sussex CCG and Sussex Partnership have just started a 12-week consultation about mental health inpatient beds in East Sussex.

As part of a longer term plan, they are consulting on moving the Department of Psychiatry at Eastbourne Hospital to either Bexhill (preferred site) or Amberstone in Hailsham. The longer term vision is to move all inpatient services to one campus style site in order to provide integrated and joined up care.

Further information and a digital consultation document can be viewed online.

People can give feedback on the consultation in a number of ways:

The team would be pleased to attend any community groups meeting face to face or online to talk about the plans.

Online questionnaire

Via an online questionnaire: please take time to read the consultation document before completing the questionnaire as it will provide you with the details of our proposals. It can be found in the useful documents section on the right side of the following page: yoursaysussexhealthandcare.uk.engagementhq.com/ris-es.

Printed questionnaire

Simply fill in the questionnaire included in the consultation document and post it using the freepost envelope provided. To request a copy of the document you can email your name and address to esxccg.eastsussex.mh@nhs.net or call 0300 304 0330. The questionnaire will be available in community languages and British Sign Language (BSL) and will be shared through interpreting service.

Online and face-to-face engagement events

Opinion Research Services (ORS) will be supporting East Sussex CCG and Sussex Partnership by undertaking some in-depth research with stakeholders, to complement the wider engagement. These will include three in-depth focus groups for mental health services users, and carers and family members of services users.

The focus groups* will be taking place online via Zoom during the week of Monday 12 July to Friday 16 July.

If you interested in taking part in one of these focus groups, please get in touch with ORS directly by emailing kara.stedman@ors.org.uk.

*Please note that spaces at the focus groups will be limited, and a diverse group of people is being sought for each group, and to involve people from across the whole of East Sussex. This means that not everybody who expresses and interest in taking part in the focus groups will be able to.

Invite a member of the programme team to your group

By taking part in existing support groups or community meetings to which the Programme Team have been invited to present information and hear feedback about the consultation. If you are involved in a group with members who are interested in inpatient mental health services in East Sussex, and would like someone from the programme team to attend, please contact esxccg.eastsussex.mh@nhs.net or 0300 304 0330 to discuss options.

Deaf BSL Users

Deaf BSL users can share their views by using the free SignLive app that connects them to a qualified British Sign Language interpreter. More information about the SignLive service and when it is available can be found at www.eastsussexccg.nhs.uk/contact-us.

The Boundary Commission for England has published its initial proposals for new parliamentary constituency boundaries. The proposals increase the overall number of constituencies in England from 533 to 543 and aim to make them more equal in terms of the numbers of electors each constituency contains.

In the 3VA area, some of the proposed changes include:

• Eastbourne constituency would become known as the Eastbourne Borough Constituency and have some existing areas removed from the current make-up of the constituency including Jevington, Wannock and part of Willingdon. Source
• Crowborough is currently in the Wealden constituency created in 1983 (made up of the towns of Crowborough, Uckfield, Hailsham and surrounding villages). The boundary of the Wealden parliamentary constituency differs from the boundary for the District Council (for example, Heathfield is in Wealden District but is part of the Bexhill & Battle parliamentary constituency). If the proposals go ahead this time, a new constituency called “Hailsham & Crowborough” would be formed (which includes Heathfield) with an electorate of 70,015. Under the changes, Uckfield would be paired with East Grinstead. Source
• Lewes constituency would become known as the Lewes County Constituency and have new areas added such as Jevington, Wannock, part of Willingdon, Stone Cross and Hankham and existing ones removed from the current make-up of the constituency including Chailey, Barcombe & Hamsey, Ditchling & Westmeston, Newick, Plumpton, Streat, East Chiltington & St John, and Wivelsfield. Source

For more information about the proposals, please read this Eastbourne Herald article.

An eight-week consultation period is underway allowing residents to share their views on the plans. Go online at www.bcereviews.org.uk to view and comment on the proposals. Don’t miss out – contribute your local knowledge and have your say on what the new constituencies should be by 2 August 2021.

The Sussex NHS Commissioners are developing a new remote consultation service to support patients to access their GP Practice by using digital technology including text message, video calls, and online websites.

They want to hear about your experiences of using remote consultations through a survey. The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Complete the survey online

If you need this survey in an alternative format or other language, or if you have any queries, please contact the Public Involvement Team at Sussex NHS Commissioners on the following:

• Email: sxccg.involvement@nhs.net
• Call: 01903 708 411
• Post: FREEPOST – RTUZ-ECYG-ERRK, Attn: Public Involvement Team, NHS Brighton & Hove Clinical Commissioning Group, Hove Town Hall, Norton Road, Brighton BN3 4AH

Deaf British Sign Language (BSL) users can contact between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Monday – Friday through the Video Relay Service (VRS) ‘SignLive’. Simply download the SignLive app, register your details, and search for NHS Brighton and Hove in the Community Directory. If the call goes to answerphone please leave a message, with your name and SignLive ID code and the team will call you back as soon as possible.