NHS South Gloucestershire and North Bristol NHS Trust (NBT) have agreed to the transfer of the PCT’s community services provider arm: South Gloucestershire Community Health Services, into NBT.
From April 1, the 550 staff previously employed by NHS South Gloucestershire joined NBT’s growing group of community based staff. This includes the Children’s Community Healthcare Partnership (CCHP) – formed in conjunction with Barnardo’s two years ago – which provides a wide range of services to children and young people in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.
The latest additions from South Gloucestershire now mean that around a fifth of NBT’s total workforce is now based outside the traditional acute hospital setting, providing care and treatment in local communities and patients’ homes.
The transfer has been agreed as an interim step for the South Gloucestershire Adult Community Health Services, which makes up around 480 of the staff transferring. In addition, 70 health visitors have permanently moved into the CCHP.
The newly formed South Gloucestershire Community Health Services (SGCHS) will sit as a separate directorate within NBT, providing community health services to the population of South Gloucestershire and receiving support from the Trust’s full range of corporate services.
Amongst a wide range of community based services, SGCHS provides District Nursing and Community Rehabilitation services and also runs the recently opened Yate Minor Injuries Unit in the new Westgate Centre which has seen huge success since its opening last June, with double the number of attendances compared to commissioner expectations and consistently positive feedback from users and carers.
In addition, CCHP has taken over the management of Church House, a specialist unit in Soundwell which provides nurse-led short breaks for children and young people aged between eight and 18 years of age with learning difficulties and behavioural issues.
Ruth Brunt, Chief Executive at North Bristol NHS Trust, said: “I am delighted to welcome the 550 staff from South Gloucestershire to North Bristol NHS Trust.
“We now have an extremely strong and positive presence in the local communities in Bristol and South Gloucestershire, providing care and treatment for both adults and children.
“With the increased responsibilities of GPs, the link between surgery and hospital with our community staff will be more important than ever.”
Penny Harris, Chief Executive of NHS South Gloucestershire, said: “The transfer of South Gloucestershire Community Health Services to North Bristol NHS Trust marks an important new phase for the rest of the Primary Care Trust, which will concentrate on how we best commission services for the people of South Gloucestershire.
“The PCT has hosted community services since its inception in 2001 and during this time we have made great strides in modernising and developing the services to ensure more people can be cared for at home, or in the community, in conjunction with council social care services where appropriate.
“I have no doubt that their collaboration with NBT will allow them to continue to thrive and allow the health and wellbeing needs of South Gloucestershire patients to be met and exceeded. I thank all the community staff for their hard work and dedication over the years and wish them every success for the future."
Hazel Braund, Director of South Gloucestershire Community Health Services, said: “We are delighted to be moving our services into NBT and see this as an opportunity to continue to build our success in developing the community services available to local people.
“Many of our staff are based in GP practices and we are working closely with the South Gloucestershire GP Consortium to develop more services in the community. We believe that these relationships will help us to act as an effective link between acute and primary care, improving pathways of care for patients and increasing efficiency.”