Ashfield MP Gloria welcomes King's Mill merger plan

Bosses at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs Mansfield Community Hospital, announced yesterday that they will be merging with Nottingham University Hospitals - the trust which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre.

The announcement was made following a damning inspection from health watchdog the Care Quality Commission (CQC) last year, when it emerged that the trust was in a worse state than when it was first placed into ‘special measures’ two years earlier.

Speaking about the announcement, Ms De Piero told the Chad: “This partnership is an extremely important step in making sure that the people of Ashfield will have a hospital that can be relied on to consistently deliver the care that they need and should expect.

“Some very good work is being carried out at Sherwood Forest Hospitals to address the failings that the CQC has highlighted, with significant progress being made in reducing mortality rates and deaths from sepsis thanks to improvements in care and record keeping.

“However there is still a long way to go and I hope that the trust will continue to improve as it works with Nottingham University Hospitals staff and its experienced senior leadership team.

“I have written to the interim chief executive Peter Herring to seek assurances that King’s Mill Hospital will not lose any services and will retain the current level of doctors and nurses who are based there.”

Nottingham University Hospitals was competing with Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to take over the management of King’s Mill.

A spokesman said the decision was based on detailed evaluation of proposals from both Nottingham and Derby trusts, focusing on the best way to rapidly improve quality at under-fire King’s Mill, in Sutton.

Speaking shortly after the announcement, Peter Herring, Interim Chief Executive of Sherwood Forest Hospitals said he was hopeful that the merger would lead to a ‘good’ rating the next time the trust is inspected by the CQC.

He said: ““We believe this partnership will give us the best opportunity to move forward with a fresh start to improve and deliver the highest quality services in a sustainable way for our patients.

“We look forward to working with Nottingham University Hospitals and creating a new larger, combined organisation with them.

“Ahead of a formal transaction to join the two trusts, the team at Nottingham University Hospitals will give us some immediate support to help us continue to make clinical improvements.

“In the medium term, the partnership will bring us a stable leadership team and improvements in governance.

“In the longer term, the new organisation will bring stronger opportunities for clinically and financially sustainable services for our local communities.

“It will also help with the recruitment and retention of staff, and will enable us to provide better hospital services and regional specialist services for local people.