Our future strategic direction
Trust Boards agree to unite hospitals in a combined NHS Trust
On Monday, 28 February 2011, the Trust Boards of the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre (NOC) and the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals (ORH) agreed at public Board meetings to integrate their services into a combined NHS Trust with a new name.
Five main areas have been identified in which integration will benefit the populations served by the new Trust:
Patient outcomes and experience – Integration will enable improvements to pathways that currently cross Trust boundaries, identify the best treatment options more quickly and help overcome some of the barriers that exist when organisations are working separately. Clinicians and managers from both Trusts will be working with GPs and with patients in the coming months to ensure that their views are harnessed to make the changes that will benefit patients.
Patient safety – An ageing population means that often patients have complex needs which require treatment in a number of service areas. Continuity of care will be easier to deliver in a merged organisation where joint working across service boundaries is the norm.
Education and research – Integration will maximise the opportunity of delivering innovation through translational research with our University partners. Clinical research, that delivers rapid benefits to patients through clinical trials and advances in new treatments, is of major importance.
Specialist services – Both the ORH and the NOC currently offer a range of specialist services that are not widely available in the UK and attract patients from beyond Oxfordshire. The integration offers a potential to grow these services so that more patients can benefit from the expertise Oxford’s hospitals have to offer.
Staff development – Integration will enable more opportunities for career development, shared training programmes and a broader range of experience across different specialties. It will ensure Oxford continues to attract the best candidates for clinical posts and support staff retention.
Making the case for merger
A key aim is to create a Trust that is able to achieve enhanced patient care and also provide the financial and operational stability which is necessary to achieve Foundation Trust status. It is believed that the combination of the two Trustswould enhance the ability to achieve Foundation Trust status by 2014 in line with Government requirements.
Reducing overlap and duplication of support functions and activities will help the merged organisation meet the challenge of continuing to deliver world-class, high quality care as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible, in an environment in which resources are increasingly constrained.
Subject to an approval process, which includes the Secretary of State for Health, it is hoped integration will become effective from 1 November 2011.
The NOC - ORH Integration Business Case is available from both Trust websites in the ‘About us’ section that contains Trust Board papers.
Trust Boards agree to unite hospitals in a combined NHS Trust (pdf; 164KB)
More time required for completion of integration process (pdf; 136KB)
Propsed name to reflect benefits of collaboration (pdf; 133KB)
Merger on track for 1 November (pdf; 145KB)
Merger on track for 1 November 2011
The Co-operation and Competition Panel (CCP), has published its support for our proposed merger of the NOC with the ORH and our merger has received approval from the Secretary of State for Health.
Following support from the Secretary of State, the legal Orders required for the merger will be made shortly and we are on track for merger to go ahead on 1 November, 2011, subject to the completion of the Parliamentary process. This will create an integrated Trust under a single Board and management team.
We are pleased that the CCP and Department of Health agree that there are significant benefits to our integration including improved service provision and benefits for our research partnerships, with a long-lasting positive impact for our patients from Oxfordshire and beyond.
The CCP considered that the combination of benefits for patients that would be created by the merger would outweigh any likely reduction in competition or choice for commissioners. You can read the Panel’s decision and its full report at www.ccpanel.org.uk
The main purpose of the merger is to deliver better patient care. By integrating our Trusts we will be better placed to improve care pathways and give patients better access to the best treatments available. We already have strong research partnerships and integration will strengthen the links between academic research, teaching and training, and clinical service delivery.
New Trust name
The new name, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust, comes into effect at the point of merger on 1 November. As part of OUH Trust, our four teaching hospitals – the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Horton General, John Radcliffe, and Churchill hospitals – will retain their current names and our patients will continue to receive a full range of services across all our sites. The services of the NOC will form a seventh clinical division of Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.
A joint working agreement with the University of Oxford will formally come into effect at the point of merger – a strategic alliance supporting a health sciences partnership that will integrate patient care, teaching and medical research to deliver the best in clinical treatment.
Through our continued collaboration with our local universities, our GP commissioners and social care partners, we will aim to deliver measurably better outcomes for our patients through innovation and excellence. These skills and partnerships are recognised as being even more important against a backdrop of challenging finances, both nationally and locally.
Becoming a Foundation Trust
The next stage of our journey is to become a Foundation Trust in 2013. Our merger strengthens our ability to meet the necessary standards to be authorised and to thrive as a Foundation Trust. A timetable for achieving the necessary approvals from the Department of Health has been agreed and is available below.
Supporting all Trusts to achieve NHS Foundation Trust status
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