Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is part of the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS provides healthcare to residents of the UK with most services being free at the point of use. The NHS was founded in 1949 and is funded largely through general taxation.
The NHS Constitution
The NHS Constitution was published on 21 January 2009. It was one of a number of recommendations in Lord Darzi's report 'High Quality Care for All' which was published on the 60th anniversary of the NHS and set out a ten-year plan to provide the highest quality of care and service for patients in England.
The NHS belongs to us all. The NHS Constitution brings together in one place for the first time in the history of the NHS, what staff, patients and public can expect from the NHS.
As well as capturing the purpose, principles and values of the NHS, the Constitution brings together a number of rights, pledges and responsibilities for staff and patients alike. These rights and responsibilities are the result of extensive discussions and consultations with staff, patients and public and it reflects what matters to them.
Department of Health
The Department of Health is the Government department in charge of health and social care. Led by the Secretary of State for Health, it exists to improve the health and wellbeing of people in England. The Scottish Parliament and Welsh Assembly manage healthcare for the people of Scotland and Wales respectively.
The Department of Health does not directly deliver health and social care services to the public, instead they are delivered by the NHS, local government and a number of other bodies. The majority of healthcare is provided by NHS bodies.
Strategic health authorities
The NHS in England is currently made up of ten strategic health authorities (SHAs), which each oversee a group of NHS trusts responsible for providing a range of healthcare services. They manage the local NHS on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health.
Our strategic health authority is NHS London which provides strategic leadership for all NHS organisations in London. It also plans healthcare for the population of London and is responsible to the Department of Health.
NHS trusts can only be managed by one SHA. Unlike other hospital trusts, we have one of our hospitals (Epsom) within another SHA's boundaries.
However, we work closely with NHS South East Coast - the SHA which Epsom geographically falls into - to ensure their priorities are reflected in the hospital, whilst meeting the standards expected by NHS London.
Primary care trusts
There are currently 152 primary care trusts (PCTs) in England who work with hospitals, local authorities and other agencies to make sure their local population receive the health and social care services they need.
Almost all NHS funding is directly allocated by the Department of Health to PCTs and they are responsible for commissioning (buying) the services local people require. As such, they decide what services different hospitals should provide.
PCTs also oversee the primary care services in their area, for instance GPs and GP surgeries, dentists, opticians and chemists. These services are usually the first, and often the only, point of contact that patients make with the health service.
Our hospitals fall within the boundaries of two PCTs: NHS Sutton and Merton and NHS Surrey. We are directly responsible to NHS Sutton and Merton, but also work very closely with NHS Surrey to ensure we reflect their priorities in our work.
Acute trusts
There are approximately 275 NHS trusts in England. There are five main types of trust:
- Acute trusts
- Foundation trusts
- Ambulance trusts
- Primary care trusts
- Mental health trusts
Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust is an acute trust. Acute trusts manage individual hospitals to make sure that they provide high-quality healthcare, and that they spend their money efficiently. They also decide on a strategy for how the hospital(s) they manage will develop, so that services continue to improve.
Our two main acute hospital sites are:
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Epsom Hospital which serves the southern part of the catchment area and provides an extensive range of inpatient, day and outpatient services. It has an accident and emergency (A&E) department which saw over 53,000 patients in 2009-10. Epsom also undertakes the vast majority of elective (pre-booked) inpatient surgery.
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St Helier Hospital is our largest site and includes a comprehensive range of diagnostic facilities, an A&E department that dealt with over 76,000 attendances in 2009-10, and a range of outpatient facilities. It also undertakes all of our emergency surgery.
We also provide services at:
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Sutton Hospital which houses a day surgery unit with dedicated theatre facilities and 32 beds. There are also departments of lithotripsy (a procedure for treating kidney stones), pain management and a large ophthalmology (eye) outpatient service.
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Queen Mary's Hospital for Children, which is the Trust's dedicated children's hospital and is located on the same site as St Helier.
We also deliver services from other local hospitals, run nine renal dialysis centres in the local area and provide neonatal intensive care services to a wider population.
The Trust also operates the Elective Orthopaedic Centre (EOC) in conjunction with neighbouring trusts on a partnership basis from Epsom Hospital.
NHS Choices
NHS Choices is the online 'front door' to the NHS. It is the country's biggest health website, intended to help people make choices about their health, from lifestyle decisions about things like smoking, drinking and exercise, through to the practical aspects of finding and using NHS services in England when they need them.
Main sections include:
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Behind the headlines: unbiased and evidence-based daily analysis of the science behind health stories that make the news;
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Carers direct: a support service for the five million people in England who look after someone else;
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Compare hospitals: people can compare hospitals they might go to by various criteria covering such things as cleanliness, experience of a particular procedure and, in some cases, survival rates, through to car parking arrangements, general facilities, or availability of A&E departments;
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Find and choose services: telephone numbers and full details for all the health services in a local area, everything from GPs and dentists to carer services and gyms;
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Health A-Z: explains more than 750 conditions and treatments in words, pictures and video;
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Live well: lifestyle section that provides guides, tips and high-quality information on how to live a healthier life;
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Medical advice now: information for those with an immediate medical worry, including a self-help guide, common health questions and an online enquiry service;
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NHS talk: blogs with the latest views, news and tips on a range of topics and conditions from more than 100 patients, carers and medical professionals;
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The NHS in England: information about the health service in England, from its history and how it's organised to your rights and what you can get from it.
