In a recent update, two NHS boards to explore joint working in Sussex and Surrey, which would be a part of a government savings drive. The Surrey Heartlands and Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICBs), which happen to oversee the running of health services in their respective counties, have gone on to confirm the move after they were told to cut their running expenditures by 50% until December 2025.
Apparently, these changes happen to be a part of the latest round of NHS reforms that happen to include the abolition of NHS England as well as the scrapping of Healthwatch, the independent watchdog.
At one of the Brighton and Hove City Council meetings, which was held in July 2025, Stephen Lightfoot, the chairman of NHS Sussex, remarked that a prominent number of the board staff were facing losing their jobs.
In a statement, which was almost identically worded, the Surrey Heartland and Sussex ICBs said that, as with all the ICBs across England, the two NHS boards to explore joint working in order to fulfill the requirements that are being asked by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) as well as NHS England.
Apparently, their proposal in order to work collaboratively along with NHS Sussex is getting the support of NHS England, and they are now working together on the transition strategy.
Notably, earlier in 2025, a DHSC spokesperson had said that the government was indeed committed in order to cutting back on unnecessary bureaucracy and also reinvesting savings when it came to frontline care.
Approximately 9000 administrative roles are getting cut at NHS England and also the DHSC as part of the changes, which amount to almost 50% of the total roles across both organizations.
With the addition of Surrey and Sussex, the total comes to 13 clusters or mergers, which have been confirmed across 42 ICBs throughout England so far.