The Trust was formed on 1 April 1998, as a result of a merger between the East Surrey Healthcare NHS Trust and Crawley Horsham NHS Trust. It is a major local employer, with a diverse workforce of around 5,000 providing healthcare services to a growing population of around 744,000. The Trust has extensive, modern facilities including MRI and CT scanners, intensive and coronary care units and is the designated major incident centre for Gatwick Airport.
How we fit into the NHS structure
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is an acute trust and is part of the National Health Service (NHS). The NHS provides healthcare to residents of the UK with most services free at the point of use. It is funded largely through general taxation.
Acute trusts:
- ensure hospitals provide high-quality healthcare and that they spend their money efficiently
- decide how a hospital will develop, so that services improve
- employ a large part of the NHS workforce, including nurses, doctors, pharmacists, midwives, and health visitors
- employ people doing jobs related to medicine, such as physiotherapists, radiographers, podiatrists, speech and language therapists, counsellors, occupational therapists, psychologists and healthcare scientists
- employ many other non-medical staff employed by acute trusts, including receptionists, porters, cleaners, specialists in information technology, managers, engineers, caterers, and domestic and security staff
Some acute trusts are regional or national centres for more specialised care, others are attached to universities and help to train health professionals.
Acute trusts can also provide services in the community, for example through health centres, clinics or in people’s homes.