| Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust | |
| Start Date: | 1 April 2020 |
| Type: | NHS foundation trust |
| Staff: | 15,661 (2021)[1] |
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust based in Essex, England. It runs three major hospitals across Essex, and a number of smaller community hospitals. One of the biggest NHS trusts in the country, it serves a population of 1.2 million people[2] and has an annual revenue of over £850m.
The trust was established on 1 April 2020 following the merger of three existing NHS trusts: Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust and Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.[3]
An initial merger between the 3 trusts was first agreed in January 2018.[4] This came after a number of proposals from the Mid and South Essex Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) regarding reconfiguring services provided in the area.
In October 2018 the plan was referred by Southend-on-Sea Borough Council to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.[5]
On 31 July 2019 the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care endorsed the merger and a provisional date of 1 April 2020 was agreed.
In 2022 it agreed a six-year contract with eConsult. This permits clinicians to ask referred patients a specialist list of questions, triaging them at the outpatients referral stage and permitting patients to send in information ahead of a visit and pre-book tests and appointments. This reduced the predicted waiting list clearance time from 20 years to three years while decreasing non-attendance from 40% to nearly zero.[6]
It set up an ambulance handover unit supplied by EMS Healthcare in October 2022. It will accommodate 12 patients and cost £235,000.[7]
Digitising the trust's Bridging service with CareLineLive, a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, enabled 10 times as many patients to get home quickly. The service provides domiciliary care services while they wait for a care package from a local provider.[8]
The trust runs three major hospitals:
The trust also runs community hospitals including Braintree Community Hospital and St Peter's Hospital.