A NEW super health authority has been formed to cover the whole of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, it has been announced today.
The decision, which was announced by health minister John Hutton this morning, means a larger, more strategic organisation will be created to the region, replacing the existing North and Mid Hampshire Health Authority, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and South East Hampshire Health Authority and Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority.
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Health Authority, as it is to be called, will be established from April 1 2002 and will serve a population of 1.8 million people while playing a major part in delivering the NHS Plan.
It will be responsible for making sure that local Primary Care Trusts and NHS Trusts meet the targets set out in the NHS Plan and will lead the strategic development of the local health service across the area.
No one was available this morning to talk about job implications.
The new organisation will cover the unitary authorities in Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, the county authority in Hampshire, the county districts of Basingstoke and Deane, East Hampshire, Eastleigh, Fareham, Gosport, Hart, Havant, New Forest, Rushmoor, Test Valley and Winchester.
It will also oversee ten Primary Care Trusts and seven NHS trusts providing hospital, mental health, learning disabilities and ambulance services.
A Southampton and South West Hampshire spokeswoman said it is hoped that redundancies will be kept to an absolute minimum.
The decision comes after a lengthy public consultation on the proposal from September 10 to November 30 and members of the public were able to express their views at a series of meetings.
The majority of people agreed a single Hampshire and Isle of Wight Health Authority would be a good idea with 73 per cent of those who responded being in favour of the proposal.
The consultation was part of a national exercise to replace the current 95 health authorities in the country with 28 strategic health authorities.
The organisation will be based at the existing Southampton and South West Hampshire Health Authority premises in Oakley Road, Southampton.
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