How do health services in Portsmouth compare with those in its sister port, Southampton
We have undertaken a thorough analysis on all health services offered in both the NHS and private sectors in both cities and have created a comparison table. All data as of 09/26.
| Healthcare area | Southampton | Portsmouth | Comparison & sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main acute hospital | Southampton General Hospital is a major university teaching hospital providing emergency, intensive care, surgery, oncology, cardiology, neurosciences and numerous specialist services. | Queen Alexandra Hospital provides the main acute hospital services for Portsmouth and south-east Hampshire. | Both are strong, although Southampton has a particularly broad tertiary and specialist role. Southampton General – UHS | Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust |
| Major trauma | Southampton General is the designated Major Trauma Centre for the Wessex region and provides full onsite adult and paediatric major trauma care. | Queen Alexandra provides emergency and trauma services but is not the regional Major Trauma Centre. | Southampton advantage. UHS Major Trauma Centre |
| A&E / emergency medicine | Southampton General Hospital has a major emergency department and associated critical-care facilities. | Queen Alexandra Hospital provides emergency hospital services for Portsmouth and the surrounding area. | Comparable for general emergencies. Southampton emergency services | Portsmouth hospital services |
| Urgent treatment centre | The Southampton Urgent Treatment Centre at Royal South Hants treats minor illnesses and injuries including sprains, minor burns and wounds. | Portsmouth Urgent Treatment Centre at St Mary’s Community Health Campus provides treatment for urgent but non-life-threatening problems. | Both cities have dedicated UTC provision. Southampton UTC | Portsmouth UTC |
| Community hospital services | Royal South Hants provides community services including diabetes, podiatry, dentistry, dermatology and sexual health. | St Mary’s Community Health Campus provides a range of community, mental-health and outpatient services. | Broadly comparable. Royal South Hants | St Mary’s Portsmouth |
| Maternity services | Princess Anne Hospital is a specialist maternity hospital and regional centre for maternal and fetal medicine. | Portsmouth Hospitals provides maternity and midwifery services through Queen Alexandra and other sites in south-east Hampshire. | Southampton advantage for specialist maternity and fetal medicine. Southampton maternity services | Portsmouth services |
| Children’s hospital | Southampton Children’s Hospital is a major regional paediatric centre with specialist cardiac, neuroscience, cancer, trauma and intensive-care services. | Queen Alexandra provides paediatric services, although Portsmouth does not have an equivalent regional specialist children’s hospital. | Strong Southampton advantage. Southampton Children’s Hospital |
| Cancer treatment | University Hospital Southampton provides specialist cancer services to a large regional population. | Portsmouth Hospitals is a designated regional cancer centre. | Both strong. UHS specialist services | Portsmouth regional services |
| Cardiac services | Southampton provides regional cardiovascular services, cardiac intensive care and specialist cardiac treatment. | Queen Alexandra provides cardiology and associated hospital services. | Southampton advantage for tertiary cardiovascular medicine. UHS cardiovascular services | Queen Alexandra Hospital |
| Neurosciences | Neurosciences is one of Southampton’s major regional specialist services, supported by a dedicated neurosciences intensive-care unit. | Neurological care is available through Portsmouth Hospitals. | Southampton advantage for specialist tertiary neurosciences. UHS Neurosciences Intensive Care |
| Renal and kidney services | Renal patients in the Southampton area are served through the wider Wessex renal network. | Queen Alexandra is home to the Wessex Kidney Centre, a major regional renal and transplantation service. | Portsmouth advantage. Wessex Kidney Centre |
| Transplant medicine | Southampton patients have access to specialist services within the regional hospital network. | The Wessex Kidney Centre at Queen Alexandra performs around 100 kidney transplants annually. | Portsmouth advantage for kidney transplantation. Renal & Transplantation |
| Respiratory medicine | Respiratory medicine is specifically listed among University Hospital Southampton’s regional specialist services. | Respiratory care is provided as part of Portsmouth’s broad acute hospital provision. | Southampton advantage for regional tertiary respiratory medicine. UHS specialist services |
| Women’s health | Princess Anne Hospital provides specialist maternity, fetal medicine, genetics, breast screening and related women’s services. | Portsmouth Hospitals provides maternity and women’s healthcare across its hospital network. | Southampton advantage for breadth of specialist provision. Princess Anne Hospital | Portsmouth services |
| Eye care | Southampton General provides ophthalmology services and has a dedicated eye casualty service. | Ophthalmology services are available within the Portsmouth hospital system. | Both provide eye care, with Southampton having dedicated eye casualty provision. Southampton General Hospital |
| Adult mental health | Antelope House in Southampton is dedicated to inpatient mental-health care and includes acute wards and psychiatric intensive care. | St James Hospital in Portsmouth includes acute adult mental-health and psychiatric intensive-care facilities. | Both have substantial specialist provision. Antelope House | St James Hospital |
| Children’s mental health | Children and young people in Southampton have access to NHS child and adolescent mental-health services. | Portsmouth CAMHS and Psychology Services are based at Falcon House on the St James Hospital campus. | Both have NHS CAMHS provision. Portsmouth CAMHS | Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare |
| NHS talking therapies | NHS psychological and talking-therapy services are available to Southampton residents. | NHS psychological and mental-health support is available throughout Portsmouth. | Comparable. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS |
| General dentistry | Southampton has community NHS dental services as well as numerous general and private dental practices. | Portsmouth also has community NHS provision alongside a substantial private and general dental sector. | Broadly comparable. Southampton community dental services | NHS Find a Dentist |
| Dental implants | Southampton has a visible private implant dentistry market, including practices offering dedicated implant consultations and implant-supported treatments. | Private dentists in Portsmouth and the surrounding area also offer dental implants. | Southampton’s advantage comes from the range and visibility of dedicated private implant provision identified in this comparison. Dental implants – The Smiles Studio Southampton | NHS dental treatments |
| Community dental services | Royal South Hants lists dental care among the health services provided from the site. | Community dental care is provided through the Hampshire and Isle of Wight healthcare system. | Comparable specialist/community provision. Royal South Hants Dental | Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare |
| Orthodontics | Southampton has specialist orthodontic providers and hospital referral routes. | Portsmouth also has orthodontic treatment available through specialist and general dental providers. | Comparable. NHS dentist search | NHS orthodontics information |
| Emergency dental care | Patients requiring urgent dental treatment can contact their dentist or NHS 111 when appropriate. | The same NHS urgent dental pathway applies in Portsmouth. | No significant difference. NHS urgent dental advice |
| Sexual health | Royal South Hants Hospital provides sexual-health services. | St Mary’s Community Health Campus provides sexual-health services in Portsmouth. | Comparable. Southampton sexual health | Portsmouth sexual health |
| Diabetes services | Royal South Hants is home to Southampton’s Community Diabetes Service. | Portsmouth’s hospital and community healthcare network provides diabetes care. | Both cities provide diabetes services. Southampton Community Diabetes Service | Portsmouth Hospitals |
| Podiatry | Royal South Hants lists podiatry among its community health clinics. | Community healthcare services are provided from St Mary’s and other Portsmouth locations. | Comparable. Southampton podiatry | St Mary’s Community Campus |
| Physiotherapy | Southampton’s acute and community healthcare services provide physiotherapy and rehabilitation. | Portsmouth hospitals and community healthcare provide physiotherapy and rehabilitation services. | Comparable. Southampton community healthcare | Portsmouth community healthcare |
| Occupational therapy | Occupational therapy forms part of Southampton’s hospital and community rehabilitation network. | St Mary’s provides community and mental-health services including occupational-therapy support. | Comparable. St Mary’s Community Health Campus | Hampshire & Isle of Wight Healthcare |
| Rehabilitation | Southampton provides community rehabilitation through Royal South Hants, Western Community Hospital, and related services. | Portsmouth has specialist community and inpatient rehabilitation provision within its healthcare network. | Both strong. Southampton rehabilitation | Portsmouth rehabilitation |
| Dermatology | Royal South Hants provides outpatient dermatology and the wider Southampton hospital system provides additional services. | Portsmouth Hospitals lists St Mary’s Hospital as providing dermatology services. | Comparable. Southampton dermatology | Portsmouth dermatology |
| Diagnostic imaging | Southampton General provides diagnostic and specialist imaging as part of its regional hospital services. | Queen Alexandra provides CT, MRI, ultrasound, fluoroscopy, X-ray, nuclear medicine and mammography. | Both have extensive imaging facilities. Southampton General | Portsmouth Diagnostic Imaging |
| Private healthcare | Southampton has numerous independent consultants, dental clinics and private healthcare providers alongside its NHS hospitals. | Portsmouth and the surrounding area also have independent hospitals, clinics, dentists and diagnostic providers. | Both have private healthcare options. CQC Find Care Services |
| GP and primary care | GP practices and health centres serve Southampton throughout the city, including primary-care services at Royal South Hants. | Portsmouth has an extensive network of GP surgeries and community health facilities. | Broadly comparable. NHS Find a GP | Royal South Hants |
| University medical links | University Hospital Southampton is one of England’s largest acute teaching trusts and works closely with the University of Southampton. | Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is also involved in healthcare education, training and research. | Southampton has an advantage in the overall scale of academic and specialist medicine. University Hospital Southampton | Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust |
| Clinical research | UHS is a major research centre associated with the University of Southampton and national research organisations and is one of the UK’s higher-recruiting trusts for clinical trials. | Portsmouth Hospitals has an active Research and Innovation department carrying out clinical studies and healthcare technology research. | Southampton has an advantage in overall research scale, although both trusts are research active. UHS Research | Portsmouth Research & Innovation |
| Military medicine | Southampton does not host an equivalent large Ministry of Defence hospital unit. | Queen Alexandra hosts Joint Hospital Group South, which Portsmouth Hospitals describes as the country’s largest Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit. | Portsmouth advantage. Portsmouth military healthcare |
| General healthcare provision | Southampton combines a major teaching hospital with specialist, community, mental-health, dental and primary-care services. | Portsmouth combines Queen Alexandra Hospital with community hospitals, mental-health facilities and primary-care services. | Very similar for most everyday healthcare needs. Southampton healthcare | Portsmouth healthcare |
| Overall specialist healthcare | Southampton has major regional services in neurosciences, respiratory medicine, cancer, cardiovascular medicine, obstetrics, paediatrics and major trauma. | Portsmouth has important regional strengths including cancer care, the Wessex Kidney Centre and military medicine. | Overall, Southampton has an advantage for breadth of tertiary specialist healthcare, while Portsmouth has significant strengths in particular specialities. UHS specialist services | Portsmouth regional services |