NHS ESDW and NHS H&R

Primary Care Trusts are the local leaders in the NHS. They receive 80% of the NHS budget from government, and use this money to make sure the appropriate hospital and community services are available for their population. The three main functions of a Primary Care Trust are: engaging with its local population to improve health and well-being; commissioning a comprehensive and equitable range of high quality, responsive and efficient services, within allocated resources, across all service sectors; and directly providing high quality responsive and efficient services where this gives best-value. NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald has a budget of £487million for 2008/09 and is responsible for a wide range of activity including funding care by GPs, paying for hospital and specialist treatment for local people and helping local people to improve their health and well-being. NHS Hastings and Rother serves a population of approximately 170,000 people across an area made up of the Hastings borough and the Rother district. The two PCTs have individual Boards with a single management team. NHS East Sussex Downs and Weald serves a population of approximately 326,000 people across an area made up of the Easbourne borough and Lewes and Wealden districts.