Peter Kyle MP for Hove & Portslade blames Health Minister Jeremy Hunt for putting future of Sussex Beacon at risk.
Brighton based HIV charity The Sussex Beacon face the prospect of closing services, including its ten bed inpatient unit, following a reduction in funding it receives from the NHS.
The Sussex Beacon provides specialist support and care for people living with HIV through inpatient and outpatient services. It helps hundreds of people living with HIV in Sussex each year and was rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission in September.
Changes to local commissioning arrangements have led to a reduction in funding from some statutory funders. The Sussex Beacon has already lost funding with further cuts likely to follow in the near future.
The charity costs over £2 million a year to run and the Charity Trustees say they cannot continue to absorb these cuts.
While many people living with HIV are now able to live long and healthy lives, there are still many who need specialist services.
Last year The Sussex Beacon’s inpatient unit had 233 admissions and was full for the majority of the year. It provided over 2,000 bed nights, relieving pressure on both health and social care services in Sussex.
Lynette Lowndes, Chair of Trustees at The Sussex Beacon, said: “Despite fantastic community support and recently being rated ‘outstanding’ by the health regulator, The Sussex Beacon cannot survive the latest statutory funding budget cuts. The trustees have regretfully concluded that the charity is facing the very real risk of closing its services which, if it happens, is likely to occur next June. This is devastating for both our service users and our amazing team of staff and volunteers. Our primary focus will be on supporting them in the coming months and looking for ways to avoid closure of services.”
The charity’s management and trustees say they have made and will continue to make every effort to put the organisation in a stronger financial position, liaising with commissioners, making internal savings and increasing community profile.
Trustees are prepared to consider all options for the future including how the charity might be redesigned and will look at other ways The Sussex Beacon can work in the HIV sector, perhaps in partnership with other local organisations or as a grant giving body.
Local MPs Simon Kirby, Peter Kyle, Caroline Lucas and Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, Councillor Warren Morgan jointly wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt MP to ask him to intervene without any success.
Peter Kyle, MP for Hove & Portslade, said: “It is a travesty that government have squeezed the Beacon’s finances to the point of insolvency. I have been working very closely with the Beacon’s superb senior team to head off this funding crisis, including writing to Jeremy Hunt with fellow MP’s and Leader of the Council, Cllr Warren Morgan. We spelled out in no uncertain terms that unless he stepped in, people living with HIV would lose an outstanding facility that our community relies heavily on.
“Reforms to HIV funding have led to a fractured and confused commissioning landscape in which everyone relies on the Beacon’s world-class services but no agency take overall responsibility to ensure it is sustainably funded. Make no mistake, this is a crisis of government’s making and the Beacon staff and management can hold their heads in pride that they are doing everything humanly possible to steer the organisation through these impossibly difficult times. Jeremy Hunt must take full responsibility for putting the Beacon, a jewel in the crown of our local health service, in such a perilous position.”
The Beacon’s most recent loss in funding was from a contract for one of the beds in the In Patient Unit funded by High Weald, Lewes & Havens Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Eastbourne, Hailsham & Seaford CCG and Hastings and Rother CCG.
Stephen Nicholson, Lead Commissioner for HIV and Sexual Health Services at Brighton & Hove City Council, explained: “NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in East Sussex and Brighton and Hove greatly value the service The Sussex Beacon provides for our patients, and our CCGs continue to pay for patients who need it. We have adjusted our funding from a grant basis to paying the full cost for each individual patient cared for because, as public bodies, we have to ensure funds are spent in the most effective way for all our population.”
Heather Leake Date, Consultant Pharmacist and NHS England HIV Clinical Reference Group member, said: “The Sussex Beacon plays a vital role in the treatment and care of people living with HIV in Sussex. Its closure would have far-reaching implications, not just for its service users (many of whom have extremely complex health and social care needs) but also for other HIV care providers in the area. For example, in the absence of the Beacon, more acute hospital bed days would be required, which would put additional pressure on Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals, and would increase the costs incurred by NHS England and the local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). It is therefore extremely disappointing that the decisions about decommissioning some of the Beacon’s services appear to have been made without involving other partners in the local health economy.”
Simon Dowe, Chief Executive of The Sussex Beacon, said: “From its beginnings in 1992 primarily as a hospice, The Sussex Beacon has adapted with the epidemic, now helping people with HIV to live long healthy lives with the condition. As Chief Executive, I’m very proud of the support we offer people and of the affection the charity is held in locally. If we are forced to close, I think it will be a real loss to our community and the decision heartbreaking for not only our staff, but also many of our service users and supporters.”
In June this year The Sussex Beacon won the Golden Handbag Award for Brighton’s favourite HIV charity voted by readers of Gscene magazine. They receive great support from local businesses including City Cabs, The Grand Brighton, SkyFall, The Brighton Academy, Mayo Wynne Baxter, Glencairn Consulting Ltd, Oliver & Graimes, E3, Sawyer & Co and Sundial Clinics. The Beacon is also one of Brighton & Hove Albion’s charity partners this year, is one of the Mayor’s chosen charities for 2016/17 and has received huge support from local fundraising and social networking group Bear-Patrol.
Simon Kirby MP for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven, said: “I am a great supporter of The Sussex Beacon and the fantastic work they do assisting people living with HIV.
“I will of course do my best to support them in the coming months and help them look for ways to avoid closure.”
Dr Gill Dean, a Trustee of the Martin Fisher Foundation, added: “The Martin Fisher Foundation was surprised and disappointed to hear of the possible closure of HIV services at the Sussex Beacon that was recently rated outstanding in a Care Quality Commission inspection.
“This is particularly concerning as Brighton & Hove has just been awarded UNAIDS Fast Track City status and has developed a local Towards Zero HIV strategy where services provided by the Sussex Beacon are an integral part of a citywide partnership to achieve associated goals.
“If Sussex Beacon is forced to close, there will be a considerable loss to essential services for vulnerable individuals living with HIV.
“At a time of great opportunity in the city, the services at the Sussex Beacon need to be adequately funded in order to sustain the quality of local HIV treatment and care across a network of providers.”
Brighton Half Marathon, the Sussex Beacon’s main fundraiser of the year is unaffected by the present announcement and will go ahead as scheduled on February 26, 2017.
A petition has been started on the campaigning website 38 degrees by Adam Betteridge who sings in the Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus to urge Government to step in and fund the Sussex Beacon effectively to enable it to carry on providing services to people with HIV.
To sign the petition, click here:
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