Health leaders from across the county are united in their support of the Hampshire Together: Modernising our Hospitals and Health Services programme.
Hampshire Together, which was launched last week, involves NHS and social care providers across Alton, Andover, Basingstoke, Eastleigh, Winchester and the surrounding areas.
The centrepiece will be the construction of a brand new hospital – but the programme’s impact will reach far beyond the walls of this new building, involving GPs, mental health, community care, social care and the wider voluntary sector, as well as acute hospital care.
Dr Nicola Decker, clinical chair for north Hampshire at the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Partnership of Clinical Commissioning Groups, who are leading the Hampshire Together programme in partnership with Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The central aim of Hampshire Together is to deliver a healthcare system that supports patients, their families and their carers to access the right care, in the right place, at the right time in order to keep them healthy.”
Alex Whitfield, chief executive of Hampshire Hospitals, which runs Andover War Memorial Hospital, Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital and Royal Hampshire County Hospital, in Winchester, added: “The new hospital that this programme will deliver will be designed in such a way that it could accommodate partners in mental health, primary health, social care and more, marking Hampshire out as a leader when it comes to joining up care services across the different sectors.”
Grant MacDonald, chief operating officer at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, which provides community health, specialist mental health and learning disability services, also supports the aims of Hampshire Together.
“Hampshire Together is a real opportunity to improve care for local people by working better together,” Grant said. “We are keen to support this initiative and help ensure people using our services, local communities and staff are involved in shaping these plans.”
Their thoughts are echoed by Mark Ainsworth, director of operations at South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, who operate emergency and non-emergency ambulance services as well as the NHS 111 service across the area.
He said: “We are really pleased to be involved in this programme and look forward to playing our part in helping people across Hampshire access the fantastic services that will be available and enabling our staff to get the right treatment to all our patients when they need it most.”
As part of the Hampshire Together programme, people across north and mid Hampshire are currently being asked for their views on the way health services are provided in the area now and in the future.
All of the information you need and an online comment form can be found at www.hampshiretogether.nhs.uk. You can also find Hampshire Together on Twitter (www.twitter.com/HampshireMOHHS) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/hampshiretogether).
If you would like to receive the listening document and a comment form by post, write to the programme at FREEPOST Hampshire Together (no stamp required) with your name and address.
