Merger of Nottinghamshire hospitals will not happen until 2017

nottingham-hospitals-qmc-city-kingsmill
City Hospital Picture: Google Street View

The Trust which runs City Hospital and QMC will not merge with the Trust that runs three struggling Nottinghamshire hospitals until 2017.

Sherwood Forest Hospitals Trust, which runs King’s Mill, Newark and Mansfield Community hospitals, announced earlier this year it would merge with Nottingham University Hospitals Trust.

The Sherwood Trust has been in special measures since 2013 and received an ‘inadequate’ rating from Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspectors last year.

Chief executive of both current Trusts Peter Homa explained why the merge has been delayed.

Some of the work required is taking longer than expected

He said: “We aimed to complete the merger before the busy winter period when our hospitals are most pressured.

“However, despite our best efforts and the hard work of very many colleagues, it has not been possible to do so.

“Some of the work required to create the merged organisation is taking longer than expected (including the legal aspects).”

We will strengthen our joint working

Mr Homa said that the Trusts will use the additional time to make sure that they are both as prepared as possible for the merge.

He said: “During this period of transition, we will further strengthen our joint working and where appropriate continue our work to integrate our services and functions, whilst ensuring each organisation gives proportionate attention to the immediate operational priorities.

“This includes SFH (Sherwood Trust) sustaining and building on recent safety and quality improvements and NUH (Nottingham Trust) improving its 4-hour emergency access performance.

“Both Trusts remain focused on improving their financial position and delivering their respective deficit positions that were agreed for 2016/17.”

 

(Visited 58 times, 1 visits today)