‘bad news’ for patients
that they needed this investment.
“But nothing was mentioned since and now we have been told that the trust will “work together” with UHB.
“By its own historic standards, care at Heartlands has gone downhill but Good Hope was catching up and has actually met the fourhour waiting time target in recent months.
“It improved awful lot.
“But with this merger, all the highly qua l i f ied medics will gravitate has an towards the QE, which will be given more money for the more hi-tech procedures that it carries out.” However, Dame Julie said there was “absolutely no desire or intention” to close any clinical or A&E departments or to look for redundancies. She said there would be a cost to the move but “there was also a cost to not doing it” as “at the moment the taxpayer is paying a lot to bail out an overspending trust”. A UHB spokeswoman added that no frontline job losses would occur, but a review had begun of nonfrontline corporate areas, including finance, procurement, HR, IT, education and communications to “ensure they are as efficient and effective as possible”. “We don’t envisage any compulsory redundancies,” she added. The spokeswoman added: “Following agreement by both Trusts’ Boards, the next step will be to prepare a business case to decide on the best way to create one legal entity to deliver the best possible clinical care for patients either through acquisition or merger.”
Dame Julie Moore, said: “We have agreed that the current arrangements are not sustainable.
“If we are to continue working together to maximise clinical benefits for patients, we need to implement a transformation that will deliver better access to better quality services for patients, supported by the most effective structure.
“Patients are not getting that at the moment despite the tireless work of staff across both Trusts.
“We need our hospitals and services focused on doing the best for patients, not protecting their organisational boundaries.
“The single Trust will pool the best talent and leadership from both organisations.
“We will make the best use of the finite resources available.
“By reviewing, rationalising and sharing resource across non-frontline services, we can then channel resource and investment into sustaining and developing our clinical services and sites.”
She added: “The work undertaken between the two Trusts has so far provided greater sustainability and certainty for patients, the public and the health economy in the long term.
“The single build on this.” organisation will