Queen's bosses in merger talks with Nuneaton hospital

BURTON’S Queen’s Hospital could join forces with another healthcare trust under ambitious plans to secure the ‘future sustainability’ of the NHS.

Queen's hospital

George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton is searching for a ‘partner organisation’ to strengthen its position and bolster its balance sheet.

Bosses at Queen’s Hospital have said they could benefit from a partnership with the Warwickshire-based trust.

The move could pave the way for an NHS trust spanning south Staffordshire and north Warwickshire, as Queen’s now also runs two community hospitals in Tamworth and Lichfield.

Queen’s chief executive Helen Ashley said: “Our trust remains alert to opportunities which could strengthen the way we work with other organisations.”

But Ms Ashley said any link with George Eliot may not be a full merger and would not stop Queen’s in its attempt to slash spending by £22 million over three years.

“This in no way detracts us from the way we are tackling the challenges in our finances,” she said.

“At the moment any link with the George Eliot is nothing more than an expression of interest in the opportunity.

“But it will become a more formal process.”

Ms Ashley said Lichfield and Tamworth, where Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust runs the two community hospitals, had very close geographical links with Nuneaton.

“There are links with Nuneaton and these places,” she said. “There are good road links between the two.”

Queen’s Hospital chairman Jim Morrison said other candidates to join forces with the George Eliot had already been ruled out because any partner needed to be a foundation trust, which would have greater independence over its own finances and management.

The board of directors at George Eliot Hospital voted last September not to become a foundation trust and instead search for a ‘strategic partner’.

Any partnership could see a sharing of expertise and resources between the two trusts.

Negotiations between health chiefs in Burton and Nuneaton are understood to be in their early stages after beginning last month.