See the end of this update for reports of our questions this week to the local NHS and their answers.

Our major activity in recent weeks has been our independent academic survey about accessibility to healthcare services in the SWF, Dengie & Maldon Integrated Neighbourhood Team area. Hopefully you completed the survey which closed on Wednesday 7 May 2025.  We held a couple of focus groups for it last Friday too. The report of this research is due to be published around the end of May. It will be used to enable us to lobby for improvements in communicating with providers of health services when we need them and to enable us to travel to appointments, diagnostic tests and treatments locally, at local hospitals and from emergency and specialist providers.

Working Group Recommendations for Community Health Services include investing to keep St Peter’s Hospital, Maldon operational for five years while funding is assembled for a purpose-built new facility, ideally on the current site. This will maintain all existing outpatient, investigative and therapy services. The NHS cannot efficiently operate Inpatient Care in Maldon due to low utilisation. Stroke and Birthing Services will be consolidated as near as possible. Decisions will be made in the coming months.

Norovirus activity however remains high even though it has stabilised in the recent weeks. The total norovirus laboratory reports between weeks 10-13 of 2025 was more than double the 5-season average for the same period. There are still many new local cases each week. You can catch Norovirus twice. If you have Norovirus

• Stay home; don’t return to work or school until two days after the vomiting and diarrhoea have stopped
• Drink plenty
• Wash hands regularly with soap and water; disinfectants and alcohol hand-gels don’t work well against the virus
• If you’re concerned – eg if a child can’t keep fluids down or the illness doesn’t stop after a few days – seek medical advice.

Integrated Care Systems have to reduce budgets by 50% and will be rearranged to cover larger areas and populations. Mid & South Essex ICB will have to lose many staff to achieve this and must do so by October. It’s likely ‘our’ ICB will cover at least Greater Essex. This is part of the plan to improve NHS efficiency. Local community operations undertaken by Primary Care Networks and Integrated Neighbourhood Teams, which are improving GP performances, seem to be unaffected.

English Community pharmacies are considering starting to work to rule unless a new NHS contract is agreed.

Spring Covid-19 vaccinations continue to be available from GPs, the NHS national booking system https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/vaccination-and-booking-services/book-covid-19-vaccination/ and local pharmacies.

A new UKHSA campaign has launched to keep antibiotics working and tackle antibiotic resistance:

• Do not take antibiotics for colds and flu, for which they don’t work. This remains one of the biggest misconceptions about taking antibiotics.
• Only take antibiotics when you have been prescribed them and taking them as directed by a healthcare professional.
• Don’t save antibiotics for future use.

At a conference we attended recently it was very encouraging to hear about two research projects instigated by UKHSA about antibiotic resistance. They are in the same scheme as ours about accessibility to health services, with Warwick Medical School. The results of these projects will help further develop this serious campaign.

World Health Organization Members have agreed a legally binding treaty designed to avoid the disorganisation and competition for resources seen during the Covid-19 outbreak.

A scheme to help GPs provide care and advice to patients without them joining long NHS hospital waiting lists is being expanded. English. GPs will work closely with specialists to access expert advice for patients with conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, menopause symptoms and ear infections.

In March Mid & South Essex Foundation Trust’s performance for Broomfield, Basildon and Southend Hospitals was:

According to a report from the Health and Social Care Select Committee: Failing to fix England’s social care system is costing the country in financial and human terms. Reform of social care for older and disabled adults is essential. According to the report, “Taxpayers are currently paying £32 billion a year for a broken system” propped up by contributions from unpaid carers “equivalent to a second NHS”. Social care is consuming an increasing proportion of councils’ budgets, crowding out spending on other services. Investment in the system could help drive economic growth. An extra £1 billion spent on social care could create 50,000 jobs across the country, and every £1 invested could generate a £1.75 return to the wider economy. The report comes as an independent commission into adult social care begins its work. Its first report is due next year, with a final report due in 2028. Whilst we have been saying for a long time that reform of social care is the key to unlocking the NHS will this report and the new commission at last result in the necessary action?

A UK Research & Innovation study“Multiple chronic illnesses linked to higher risk of depression” shows that people with multiple long-term physical health conditions are at a significantly greater risk of developing depression. Researchers found that some combinations of chronic illnesses, particularly cardiometabolic ones like diabetes and heart disease, could more than double the likelihood of a future depression diagnosis.

People’s health data was followed for over 10 years. UKR&I found that eight in 100 people with the highest risk combinations of chronic illnesses developed depression in that time, compared with four in 100 people without physical conditions.

Multimorbidity, when patients live with two or more chronic conditions, continues to put pressure on healthcare systems. The researchers say the findings highlight the need for integrated care models that address both mental and physical health.

Multiple chronic illnesses linked to higher risk of depression – UKRI

BBC research suggests English Family doctors are divided on the issue of assisted dying.

The findings give a unique insight into how strongly many GPs feel about the proposed new law – and highlight how personal beliefs and experiences are shaping doctors’ views on the issue. BBC News sent more than 5,000 GPs a questionnaire asking whether they agreed with changing the law to allow assisted dying for certain terminally ill people in England and Wales. More than 1,000 GPs replied, with about 500 telling us they were against an assisted dying law and about 400 saying they were in favour.

GPs split over assisted dying plans, BBC research suggests – BBC News The Parliamentary debate about this continues with many differing views being held and expressed.

We have asked the following questions of the Mid & South Essex Integrated Care Board at its meeting in public on 15 May:

• The focus group we held as part of the independent academic research we are undertaking into accessibility for patients travelling to health appointments, treatments, diagnostics and operations suggests that the authorities responsible for highways, public transport and delivery of the services at general and specialist hospitals do not pay any particular attention to this. Does MSE ICB agree that it is pointless for patients to have such appointments but be unable to attend them either without considerable difficulties or not at all because of travel barriers?

Answer:
“Dan Doherty (Mid Essex Alliance Director) has taken part in the qualitative research and it is hoped that he was able to contribute positively. We look forward to the research findings with interest. We will ensure the findings of the research are shared with appropriate stakeholders in the hope it can positively influence the experience of people travelling to health appointments.”

• The patients and people of South Woodham Ferrers have seen reports of cuts to NHS England ring fenced budgets which will see maternity, prevention, mental health and children’s services suffering the biggest cuts according to the HSJ, the health service journal for healthcare leaders. The rest of the money will instead be given to the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). So what will you, our Mid & South Essex ICB, do with this funding? We know our midwifery services aren’t as good as they should be. Our mental health services are subject to a public inquiry. Our children’s special needs services are the worst in the country, and we know prevention will lower serious illnesses.  

Answer:
“In previous years, the ICB received System Development Funding for a range of nationally identified priority areas.  For 2025/26 many of these have been included within the ICB’s core allocation. In most cases this enables the organisation greater flexibility as to how the funding is utilised to meet prioritised needs of its population. The exception being mental health funding which remains ring-fenced as part of the Mental Health Investment Standard.

Mid & South Essex ICB has taken the approach to retain investment in those areas where existing commitments have been made and, as such, continues to invest in the priority areas raised in your question. The ICB has not decommissioned any services as a result of the new flexibilities this funding approach enables.”

• The Report from the Commission into St Peter’s Hospital and associated options with care beds and birthing unit pathways across Mid & South Essex recommends, inter alia: “….  rapid investment and support into St Peters to keep all outpatients services at the hospital over, roughly, the next 5 years. This will allow the time for the capital to be brought together to redevelop a part of the estate for a modern health hub, where primary care and possibly other services will be brought within and upgraded.” Given the historic delays this seems ‘like another delaying tactic’ especially as that takes the issue beyond the next General Election. Recognising the present reorganisations and financial constraints please will you ensure that a full business case is developed, agreed and financed within three years?

Answer:
“The five year time horizon proposed by the community consultation working group for a new facility in Maldon was intended to be a realistic estimate of the time it will take to agree the financing of any new facility, to proceed through the relevant NHS business case approvals process for such a facility and then go through the design, planning and construction period for the building.  We are working on this currently and when we are able to commit to a timetable we will do so. Ideally we would like this to be faster than the 5 year time horizon.

In the meantime, as set out by the working group, Mid and South Essex Foundation Trust as the owners of St Peter’s are currently reviewing the quality of the estate and are looking at the development of further business cases to improve the existing quality of estate at St Peter’s so it can continue to deliver care for local communities whilst the longer term solution is agreed and developed.”

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