News and media releases from the Surrey Heartlands area
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Chair appointed across Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Boards
Ian Smith has been appointed as Chair across the Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) as part of changes taking place across the NHS.
In line with ICBs across the country, NHS Surrey Heartlands and NHS Sussex are working to take on a more focused role as strategic commissioners to deliver the ambitions set out in the recently published 10-Year Health Plan.
Ian Smith, currently Chair of NHS Surrey Heartlands said:
It is a great privilege to be appointed as Chair across two successful integrated care boards. I look forward to working with colleagues in both health and care systems to build on these successes as we work to create more joined-up and integrated pathways for our patients and residents.
Stephen Lightfoot, outgoing Chair at NHS Sussex had already announced his intention to retire from the end of September.
Stephen adds:
Over the last three years, both ICBs in Surrey and Sussex have started making improvements in local NHS services to improve health outcomes and reduce the health inequalities for the populations we serve. By taking the best from both systems there is a real opportunity to accelerate these improvements and achieve the changes our patients, service users and residents want to see. As a Sussex resident myself, I wish Ian all the very best as he leads the new organisation to deliver this.
As part of the reform to ICBs, the number of ICBs nationally is expected to reduce from 42 to 26.
In response to the national requirement to streamline ICBs, NHS Surrey Heartlands and NHS Sussex put forward plans to NHS England in May 2025 to work collaboratively across the two counties and form one ICB from next year. The two organisations will start coming together under a shared Chair and Chief Executive (the latter still to be appointed) from October with plans to create a new organisation from April 2026.
Ian added:
I firmly believe that bringing Surrey and Sussex together - whilst continuing to work closely with our partners in both systems - will benefit system working, create better value for money for the taxpayer, and ultimately improve health outcomes for patients and residents.
These changes will strengthen ICBs’ roles as strategic commissioners, allowing them to better deliver on the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan and improve outcomes for the populations of Surrey and Sussex. This includes what is being termed the ‘left-shift’ – from treatment to prevention; from hospital to community; and from analogue to digital.
Ian concludes:
These changes offer a real opportunity to make a step-change in how we consider population health and collaborate with partners across both health and care systems, including at the most local level, to improve outcomes and create more joined up care for local people.