HOSPITALS in Dorset will receive £1.2million to help them work closer together in the controversial shake-up of health services across the county.

NHS England has announced the funding to support and spread the work of the ‘One NHS in Dorset’ a new care model vanguard.

The vanguards are partnerships of NHS, local government, voluntary, community and other organisations that are implementing plans in a bid to improve the healthcare and save funds.

One NHS in Dorset is a collaboration between Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Under the Clinical Services Review which is currently at public consultation, Dorset CCG has outlined its preferred proposals which include designating Royal Bournemouth Hospital as the county’s major emergency hospital leaving Poole Hospital for planned care, closing maternity and paediatric services at Poole to relocate to a new purpose-built unit at RBH and cutting the number of community hospitals from 13 to create more ‘community hubs’ in a bid to provide care ‘closer to home.’

In addition to the funding, One NHS in Dorset will continue to receive support from NHS England and other national bodies to implement the plans, including how the partnership will harness new technology.

The partnership is also receiving help to develop its workforce so that it is organised around patients and their local populations.

Samantha Jones, director of the new care models programme, said: “The vanguards are making great progress and have already made a tangible impact on the lives of patients and the working lives of staff.

“2017/18 is a crucial year for the vanguards, in particular how we further spread their work across the wider NHS and care services. This funding, as well as the support we offer to them, will help them to continue to move at pace.”

The £1.2million awarded to Dorset is part of a £101m packages being provided to supporting hospitals nationally and will be matched by funds and resources from the vanguards themselves.

The new models of care, including the work of the vanguards, are said to be key to the delivery of sustainability and transformation plans (STPs), which are being developed by health organisations across the country.

In order to secure their allocated funds, vanguards will need to meet a number of conditions.

These include spreading the new care models within and across STPs, full implementation of the published care model frameworks and clear quality improvements and costs savings.