HEALTH bosses have outlined plans to save £216 million by merging services in three Essex hospitals and reducing emergency admissions.

NHS England announced on Tuesday it would go ahead with a plan to cut the health care bill for 1,175,000 patients currently cared for by Mid Essex Hospital, Southend and Basildon trusts and five clinical commissioning groups.

The current 2015/16 deficit is £94m across the three trusts. This is expected to rise to an unsustainable £216million by 2018/19.

The Mid and South Essex Success Regime is one of three such projects being implemented by NHS England in the UK, where health services have suffered financial and staffing crises.

NHS England confirmed plans for more shared services between the three hospitals, including Broomfield, aimed at reducing the duplication of administration and IT services, and changes to emergency care, which would lessen the need for admissions to “expensive hospitals” and provide care in the community with new technology “even in some crisis situations”.

For instance, patients with chronic conditions such as heart problems will be monitored at home by specialists who will assess their condition remotely and decide whether they need to be admitted to hospital.

Dr Ronan Fenton, medical director of Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust, said: This is the chance for clinicians and staff to do what they believe in and have the potential to achieve – safer, more effective, more compassionate care for patients.

If we don’t change, the current estimated deficit across mid and south Essex could rise to £216 million by 2018/19, and we would not be able to meet year-onyear growing demands.”

All of the organisations involved will now thrash out the details of the plans with a view to putting their ideas out to public consultation in September.