Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, the Isle of Wight Trust and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust merging under Project Fusion to provide community, mental health and learning disability services including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)
NHS trusts serving the south of England will be merged into a new body providing mental health, community and learning disability services from April next year.
Under the name Project Fusion, the boards of the Solent NHS Trust, Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust and the Isle of Wight Trust have signed off on becoming the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Under the new arrangement Southern Health and Solent, alongside the community, mental health and learning disability services of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, will move into the new organisation.
The shake-up will also see the majority of the Hampshire Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), currently delivered by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, transferred to Southern Health prior to the creation of the new organisation.
The proposed shake-up will be subject to final approval from NHS England.
A Project Fusion spokesperson said: “The driving factors behind the creation of the new trust are the need to transform services to meet increasing demand and complexity of health issues, and to improve the consistency of care across the region.
“An independent review in 2022 found that a combined trust was required in order to deliver sustainable services which would reduce health inequalities, provide consistent and accessible local care, and improve outcomes for all communities across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
“Under the banner of Project Fusion, the trusts have worked together to create a full business case which outlines the benefits to patients, the wider community and the 12,500 members of staff who currently deliver community and mental health services for the existing trusts.”
The Isle of Wight NHS Trust will continue to deliver “acute and ambulance services” for the island population, working in partnership with Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and South Central Ambulance Service.
