Sussex's two health authorities will be swallowed up in a new "super authority", the Government has decided.
Whitehall has agreed to press ahead with plans to merge the East Sussex, Brighton and Hove and West Sussex authorities with the two covering Surrey.
The new body will be named Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority.
The move reflects the stripping away of responsibilities from health authorities in recent years.
Responsibility for distributing cash to GP surgeries, hospitals and other local services will now shift to primary care trusts spread throughout the county.
Both East and West Sussex health authorities say most of their workers will automatically transfer to local primary care and community trusts.
They say any job losses are likely to be at board and managerial level.
The Department of Health believes the shift will slash NHS bureaucracy.
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