22 Mar The merger of Colchester and Ipswich hospitals will benefit patients
The merger of Colchester and Ipswich hospitals, forming a new NHS trust, will benefit patients and staff by reducing the stress of a system where services and processes are not joined up.
That’s according to plans published today (22 March) that include a commitment to stop the things that waste valuable time for patients, families and staff.
The ambitious vision, in which better scheduling and planning, supported by technology, is used to make services “just work” is set out in the full business case for the merger of the two hospitals.
The boards currently running the two hospitals will each make a final decision about whether to approve the plan for merger at a meeting held in public on Thursday 29 March.
If both trusts agree, then the case will then be sent to national NHS teams with a final decision being made by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Hunt MP.
The merger could take place as early as July of this year, creating the biggest NHS trust in East Anglia which will employ nearly 10,000 staff to look after more than 750,000 residents. The organisation will be called East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and will manage community services in east Suffolk as well as Colchester and Ipswich hospitals.
