South Central Strategic Health Authority is one of ten Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) across England. It was established on 1 July 2006 and covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Oxfordshire – a population of around four million people. To view a map of the NHS South Central region click here.

SHAs manage the NHS locally and provide an important link between the Department of Health and the NHS.

SHAs are responsible for:

• Providing strategic leadership to the local NHS, ensuring national policy is implemented at a local level
• Leading on organisational and workforce development, ensuring the NHS organisations in the region are fit for purpose and have a workforce to meet the future healthcare needs of the population
• Developing plans for improving health services in their region
• Making sure local health services are of a high quality and are performing well

Within the South Central region there are:

• Eight Primary Care Trusts
• 11 major hospitals
• One ambulance service
• Three mental health organisations
• A learning disability organisation
• A specialist orthopaedic hospital.

As of 1 April 2012, SHAs will no longer exist. The Government is planning to replace them with a new form of regional tier. South Central SHA’s existing work programmes have been designed with this is mind. Please click here to view the Government Health White Paper, Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS

Key facts about South Central (as of March 2010)

More than 95,000 NHS staff are employed in the region

There are around 400,000 planned hospital admissions every year

There are around 325,000 emergency hospital admissions every year

Approximately 275,000 emergency calls are handled by the ambulance service every year

Around £6 billion is spent collectively by the region’s 24 NHS organisations.

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