Two hospitals have launched a group model to further enhance hospital care for patients across south west London and Surrey.
After years of collaboration and creating closer working ties, the boards of the Epsom-St Helier Trust and St Georges have agreed to form a joint group.
The partnership will allow the trusts to bolster their clinical and non-clinical workforce, making the teams larger and therefore more resilient to the challenges modern healthcare may bring in the future.
The collaboration will also allow patients to greater access a wider range of NHS services.
Together, the trusts will work more closely on research, staff development, education and training - which will make a vital contribution to the quality and sustainability of clinical care into the future.
As a group model, the trusts will share a Chief Executive and a number of other key leaders, as well as the existing role of Joint Chairman.
Each trust will continue to have its own board and the organisations are not merging, meaning both Epsom and St Helier, and St George’s will remain as statutory organisations in their own right.
Jaqueline Totterdell – who has been Chief Executive Officer at St George’s since May 2017 – was appointed following interview to the position of Group Chief Executive.
The current Chief Executive of Epsom and St Helier, Daniel Elkeles, has recently accepted the role of Chief Executive with the London Ambulance Service.
Daniel has played a key role in developing the collaboration between the two trusts, working closely with the St George’s leadership and the ESTH Board.
Joint Chairman Gillian Norton said: “This is an exciting development for both Epsom and St Helier and St George’s – the group allows us to strengthen the professional networks we have already created and ensure the two hospital trusts continue to run efficient and high quality services for the benefit of the people we serve.
“For our patients and the vast majority of staff, nothing outwardly will change – the hospitals will all continue to operate as they are, services will remain, and our commitment to providing outstanding care to the patients who need us will stand strong.
"But behind the scenes, by sharing skills, expertise and resources in some areas, we can ensure that both organisations are better able to take on the challenge of growing demand on our services – this will bring benefits to our patients for years to come.
“Collaboration between the two hospital trusts has been happening for some years now, with the renal teams from both Trusts recently beginning public engagement on bringing together renal inpatient services into a brand new renal unit.
"The two trusts have agreed to work together on the future for Patient Transport Services and Epsom and St Helier recently joined the South West London Pathology Partnership with the agreement that the service will have two main bases, one at St George’s and one at St Helier.
"In addition, during Covid, the two organisations teamed up on a major collaboration on the Novavax vaccine trial and are moving towards interoperable Electronic Patient Records systems.
"There is a huge amount to be proud of in this work, and so we are delighted to be building on this strong foundation and formalise the partnerships and networks we have already created.”
The development of the Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Sutton will continue as planned.
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