NHS Surrey Heartlands

NHS Surrey Heartlands
Name	NHS Surrey Heartlands
Formation	2016
Type	Integrated care system
Headquarters	Guildford
Region served	Surrey, England
Leader title	Chair
Leader name	Jonathan Erskine
Parent organization	NHS England

NHS Surrey Heartlands is an integrated care system covering large parts of the county of Surrey in England. It coordinates clinical commissioning, hospital services, community care and population health across multiple local authorities and provider organisations. The partnership brings together acute hospitals, community trusts, mental health providers, primary care networks and local councils to plan services, improve outcomes and allocate resources.

History

Surrey Heartlands emerged amid national reforms following the Health and Social Care Act 2012, with formal system footprints defined during the Sustainability and Transformation Plan era and subsequent NHS reorganisation under NHS England and the development of Integrated care systems in 2018–2022. Early partnerships involved Surrey County Council, Elmbridge Borough Council, Woking Borough Council, Guildford Borough Council and neighbouring districts coordinating with acute trusts such as Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Strategic initiatives linked to the Five Year Forward View and Long Term Plan shaped commissioning and service redesign, while local programmes referenced policy documents from the Care Quality Commission and funding mechanisms influenced by NHS Improvement.

Geography and population served

The footprint covers central and western Surrey including urban centres and rural districts such as Guildford, Woking, Epsom, Redhill, Reigate, Farnham and Horley. It serves a population whose demographic profile interacts with patterns seen in Surrey Heath, Tandridge, Mole Valley and Runnymede, encompassing both commuter towns linked to London and market towns with ageing cohorts similar to trends in West Sussex and Hampshire. Cross-boundary interfaces exist with neighbouring systems including Frimley Health and Care ICS, North West London ICS and Kent and Medway ICS, necessitating coordination with transport hubs such as Gatwick Airport and arterial routes like the M25 motorway.

Governance and organisational structure

Governance combines representation from NHS providers, clinical leaders, local authority executives and member practices. Board arrangements feature chairs and clinical leads drawn from organisations such as Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, SASH, Mental Health Foundation partners and primary care networks anchored in General Medical Council-registered practices. Financial oversight aligns with NHS England assurance frameworks and interactions with bodies including NHS Digital, Public Health England (historically) and Office for National Statistics for population metrics. Collaborative committees address workforce planning with links to training bodies like Health Education England and commissioning oversight connected to Clinical Commissioning Groups prior to ICS statutory status.

Clinical services and hospitals

Acute and specialist services are delivered across trusts including Royal Surrey County Hospital, St Peter's Hospital, Chertsey, Epsom Hospital, Guildford and Waverley services and community providers such as Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Elective surgery, urgent and emergency care, mental health, maternity and paediatric services are organised in network models with referral pathways into tertiary centres like St George's Hospital and Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust when specialist services are required. Community health and social care interfaces include district nursing, rehabilitation and hospice partners such as St Luke's Hospice and palliative providers historically involved with regional networks like South East Coast Strategic Clinical Network.

Integrated care and partnerships

Integrated programmes span primary care networks, social care teams and voluntary sector organisations including Age UK, Carers Trust affiliates and smaller charities operating in Surrey. Partnerships extend to academic institutions and research networks including University of Surrey and collaborative work with teaching hospitals participating in multicentre initiatives linked to funding streams from bodies such as National Institute for Health and Care Research. Cross-sector partnerships with local enterprise and transport authorities interact with economic development bodies like Surrey County Council's regeneration programmes and housing partnerships with district councils.

Performance and outcomes

Performance monitoring uses national metrics from NHS England and inspection frameworks from the Care Quality Commission. Outcomes reporting covers A&E targets, elective waiting times, cancer pathways measured against NHS Constitutional standards, mental health waiting times and community reablement metrics comparable to national benchmarks produced by the Office for National Statistics. Quality improvement initiatives mirror national programmes including falls prevention, sepsis pathways informed by NICE guidance and childhood immunisation strategies aligned with Public Health England immunisation frameworks.

Future plans and developments

Strategic priorities include elective recovery, workforce stabilisation, expansion of community diagnostics and digital transformation with initiatives referencing NHSX policies and cybersecurity guidance from National Cyber Security Centre. Capital and service redesign proposals involve estate rationalisation across acute sites, development of integrated neighbourhood teams, and closer collaboration with regional commissioning via NHS England (South East) to deliver the ambitions of the Long Term Plan and national ICS policy. Future research, training and innovation ties are expected to deepen with partners including the University of Surrey and regional innovation accelerators.

Category:Health in Surrey Category:Integrated care systems in England