There are plans to merge our hospital trusts

Our trust, including St Richard’s, would merge with Brighton and Haywards Heath

Two hospital trusts in Sussex have announced plans to pursue a merger.

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WSHT) and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust (BSUH) hope to form a new, single organisation.

The trusts said this would create ‘exciting opportunities’ for the hospitals to grow and develop services.

Since April 2017, the two trusts have been managed by a shared executive team.

During that time WSHT, which runs Worthing Hospital, Southlands Hospital in Shoreham and St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, became the first non-specialist acute hospitals trust to be awarded Outstanding in all the CQC’S key inspection areas. Inspectors visiting the trust in the summer of 2019 rated it outstanding in terms of being safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led.

Meanwhile BSUH, which runs Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, became the fastest improving acute hospitals trust in England and is now rated Good overall and Outstanding for caring.

Dame Marianne Griffiths, chief executive of BSUH and WSHT, said: “Our ambition with a new, single organisation is to create new specialist services and continue to develop and deliver outstanding local care to our patients.

“The talent, expertise and dedication shown by colleagues at BSUH and WSHT is remarkable.

“In recent months as we have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic the collaboration and mutual support between the trusts has been hugely effective.

“This partnership has enabled us to provide the very best care for our patients while maintaining our focus on staff safety.

“Building on this closer working relationship and creating a new, single organisation will provide us with many opportunities to design and grow services for our local communities and improve the care we provide across Sussex.”

The next steps of the process will involve the development of a full business case with staff, partners, governors, members and local communities involved in creating the new organisation.

Dame Marianne added: “We want everyone in our communities to play a part in shaping the future of health care in Sussex and their views will play a valuable role in building a new trust.”

Learn more by visiting westernsussexhospitals.nhs. uk