The Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) of East Sussex Council convened to discuss several key healthcare issues affecting the region. The agenda included updates on access to general practice, NHS Sussex's structural changes, and children and young people's mental health services. Additionally, the committee was expected to review and update its work programme.

Access to General Practice in East Sussex

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on efforts to improve access to general practice and Primary Care Network (PCN) services in East Sussex. The report, following up on previous discussions, was expected to include:

• Background information about the wider context of this report
• GP appointment data
• The Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS)
• Integrated Neighbourhood Teams
• Health Inequalities
• Approaches to addressing unwarranted variation in Primary Care
• Improving Primary Care patient experience
• Planning for winter 2025/26

The report noted that NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) is responsible for delivering care to 1.72 million people, across three places: East Sussex, West Sussex, Brighton and Hove. As of August 2025, there were 50 GP practices in East Sussex, and 94 Community Pharmacies, as well as one Primary Care Hub in Hastings.

The report also referred to the government's 10-year health plan, Fit for the Future, which focuses on improving access to general practice by:

Bringing care closer to home with the aim of delivering a faster, more convenient, equitable access to a wide range of services by establishing Neighbourhood Health Centres (NHCs) in every community, bringing together GP, nursing, mental health, pharmacy, dentistry, diagnostics and more under one roof.

The report stated that NHS Sussex exceeded its operating plan target for GP appointments in 2024/2025 by 11.5%, with 3,771,179 appointments delivered in East Sussex, a 4.2% increase from the previous year. The target for 2025/26 is to exceed the 2024/25 performance by an additional 1.2%.

The report also detailed how Primary Care Networks are positioned as the 'front door' of Integrated Neighbourhood Care, connecting primary care with wider services. It stated that in 2026/27 practices are expected to follow the Sussex neighbourhood health framework, where:

all general practices within each of the 13 Integrated Community Team areas in Sussex will be expected to risk-stratify their patients, using the John Hopkins tool, in accordance with the agreed system framework of population need, including the identification of those patients who would benefit most from continuity of care.

The report also stated that all East Sussex PCNs have engaged in multi-agency collaboration to support their plans to tackle neighbourhood health inequalities, and that a new Quality Improvement programme has been co-developed with Primary Care Clinical Leads and the Primary Care Provider Collaborative.

The report also noted that increasing the primary care workforce is a national and local priority, referring to the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, and the Sussex People Plan.

NHS Sussex Update

The committee was scheduled to receive a verbal update from NHS Sussex regarding structural changes to the ICB, including the merger with NHS Surrey and Heartlands to form one ICB covering two health and care systems. This item followed up on a previous update from June 2025, where the committee agreed to receive regular updates on any further changes to the ICB.

Children and Young People Mental Health Update

The committee was scheduled to receive an update on services for Children and Young People's (CYP) Emotional Wellbeing and Mental Health in East Sussex. This followed a report considered in June 2023, and was expected to provide an overview of service provision, including Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) in schools and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). The report was also expected to cover service activity, waiting times, feedback, and outcomes, as well as an outline of the Sussex Children and Young People Transformation Programme.

The report noted that across Sussex, mental health services for children and young people have seen increases in acuity and complexity, impacting access to services and waiting times. It stated that an estimated 60,000 children and young people in Sussex live with a diagnosable mental health condition.

The report also detailed the two main children and young people's community mental health services in East Sussex: Mental Health Support Teams (MHST) in Schools provided by East Sussex County Council, and Specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) provided by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

The report stated that 94 education settings in East Sussex are currently supported by MHSTs, representing approximately 65% coverage of education settings. It also noted that East Sussex CAMHS operates a stepped care model, delivering interventions matched to the severity and complexity of young people's needs.

The report also detailed the Sussex Children and Young People Transformation Programme, which has identified four improvement priority areas: Getting Advice and Help, Children and Young People Mental Health Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC), Specialist Community CAMHS Development, and Pathway Interface.

HOSC Future Work Programme

The committee was expected to review and agree on updates to its work programme. The work programme includes proposed agenda items for future meetings, ongoing scrutiny reviews, initial scoping reviews, and training and development matters. Councillor Colin Belsey, Chair of HOSC, was expected to ask the committee to consider its priorities in the context of NHS reforms and agree an updated work programme. The HOSC Work Programme September 2025 included items to be scheduled such as:

• Uckfield day surgery
• Paediatric Service Model at Eastbourne District General Hospital (EDGH)
• Access to NHS Dentistry Services
• Ophthalmology Transformation Programme
• East Sussex Healthcare Trust (ESHT) Capital Works Programme
• University Hospitals Sussex (UHSx), General Surgery and Neurosurgery
• UHSx CQC report
• Cardiology transformation Programme
• Implementation of Kent and Medway Stroke review
• Specialised Children's Cancer Services – Principal Treatment Centres (PTCs)