We know that many of you may have questions in relation to this subject. We have drafted some initial FAQs below that you may find useful.
If you have any further questions, please send them to communications
FAQs
Q. What changes are happening involving the five Trusts?
For some time now, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside have been looking at how the local NHS can deliver improved health outcomes, quality of services, and financial and clinical service sustainability.
Details of this were included in a Liverpool Clinical Services Review document, published in January 2023.
Over the last year, progress has been made towards more collaborative working between NHS Trusts in the city, including the appointment of some joint board of director roles, and partnership working across a range of clinical services.
Continuing this approach, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside have asked five adult acute and specialist Trusts in Liverpool to create a joint committee.
A joint committee is an arrangement where participating organisations use their statutory powers to share decision making collectively. The Trusts that will be part of the joint committee are:
- Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (LHCH)
- Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT)
- Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust (LWH)
- The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust (CCC)
- The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust (TWC)
The focus of the joint committee will be on the management of capacity and demand, workforce challenges, collective financial management and governance arrangements for the five organisations. The chairs and chief executives of the five Trusts will sit on the joint committee.
This is not a merger - all organisations will remain separate statutory organisations.
Over the coming weeks, the Trusts will work together to develop the details for the delivery of the specific governance and financial arrangements.
Q. What will the new joint committee do?
The joint committee is a way the five Trusts can make decisions together and work together to:
- Improve healthcare for people in Liverpool by reducing variation and creating smoother transition of care, as recommended in the Liverpool clinical services review.
- Share ideas and innovations that will benefit patients, staff and local communities.
- Tackle challenges including the significant funding gap.
It will be separate from the individual Trust Boards. The joint committee will have some powers delegated to it from the individual Trust Boards. We are working on the details of this and will keep you updated.
Q. Who will sit on the joint committee and how will they be appointed?
The joint committee will include representatives from all five Trusts. The five Trusts are working together on the details at the moment. We will let you know once this has been agreed.
Q. When will it happen?
The aim is for the joint committee to meet in shadow form in September 2024 (i.e. without formal authority), and to be in place formally (i.e. with authority to make decisions) in April 2025.
Q. How does this affect the joint working that was already underway between Trusts?
This is just a governance arrangement for now, so will have no impact upon current ways of working. The relationships between the different Trusts will continue, separate from and in addition to the new committee.
Q. How will this benefit patients? Is there a risk specialist services will get less focus?
Each Trust will continue to be responsible for the services it provides so they get the dedicated focus and attention they need – that won’t change. But health services don’t exist in isolation; we rely on each other. (E.g. All five Trusts are involved in cancer care, and people with cancer also need other services like A&E.)
There are also big challenges facing the NHS nationally and regionally, with rising demand as people live longer and need help with increasingly complex health conditions.
Working together like this will help us meet that challenge and deliver better care overall.
Q. What are the next steps for the work between LUHFT and LWH?
Alongside the creation of a joint committee between the five acute and specialist Trusts, LUHFT and LWH are building upon their existing joint board appointment arrangements and are working towards developing a shared board of directors.
This supports Liverpool Women’s Hospital’s long-stated ambition to be aligned to a larger acute Trust to support the management of identified clinical risks.
Work is underway to develop the detailed plans for establishing the joint board by late Autumn 2024.
The plan will involve LWH establishing a site hospital leadership governance model. An Executive Managing Director will be appointed to lead Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust, who will sit as a voting member of the new Board.
This will ensure that Liverpool Women’s Hospital’s identity is retained and that it has a strong voice and influence at board-level.
These changes will not impact upon the delivery or location of clinical services at any of the LUHFT or LWH sites.
More details on the progress of these changes will be shared regularly over the coming weeks and months, and we will involve staff through ongoing engagement opportunities.
Q. Is this a merger between LUHFT and LWH?
No, this is about the creation of a joint board. Liverpool Women’s and LUHFT will remain as separate statutory organisations.
Q. Is the LWH going to move location?
No, there are no plans to close or re-locate the hospital as a result of the formation of the joint board.
Q. Will this mean changes in services?
No, this governance and leadership change is separate to the ongoing work looking at the future of the Trust’s services.
NHS Cheshire & Merseyside’s Women’s Hospital Services in Liverpool Programme is the programme of work looking at this and there will be lots of opportunities to engage on any proposed changes to the future of services.
Any potential changes to services in the future would be a number of years away and would be subject to a public consultation process before any decisions could be made.
Q. What will this mean for jobs?
There are no plans at present relating to workforce, but where it makes sense to look at efficiencies in certain areas, or how we can work together more effectively, we will do so.
As the plans are developed we are committed to keeping people updated.