‘Hospital trusts sharing expertise makes sense for North Herts’ says Lister chief

Two hospital trusts have committed to working more closely together to help improve the quality of care provided to patients in an affordable and sustainable way.

The East and North Herts NHS Trust, which runs Lister Hospital in Stevenage, and the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Harlow have signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ and work has started to highlight areas where closer working relationships may be beneficial.

This could be through clinical collaboration in particular specialities or shared back office support to achieve financial efficiencies.

The clinical areas currently being considered are vascular surgery, colorectal surgery, stroke unit, and urology and renal services. Non-clinical areas being considered are estates, finance/payroll, HR/workforce function and the purchasing of goods and services.

Nick Carver, chief executive of the East and North Herts NHS Trust and pictured above, said: “We look forward to working with our colleagues at Princess Alexandra to see how we can help develop better, more efficient services for the benefit of people.”

The majority of services provided will continue to be delivered from their current locations.

Beverley Flowers – chief executive of the East and North Herts Clinical Commissioning Group, one of the NHS organisations which commissions health services from both trusts and monitors their quality and effectiveness – said: “With a growing and ageing population and increasing demand for health services, sharing expertise and working closer together makes good sense.

“We are committed to supporting our hospital trust colleagues as they work more closely together in the interests of patients.”

A working group has been set up to fast-track the opportunities for service integration that have already been highlighted, as well as identifying other services which could benefit from closer working.