UH and Weston Area Health Trust merger update Trust Communications Tue 10/03/2020 13:03

March 2020

Significant progress has been made in planning for a successful merger between our organisations, which is on track to take place on 1 April. Our newly formed Trust – University Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust – will bring together over 13,000 staff aiming to deliver exceptional local services for local people and specialist services across the South West and beyond. Our merger provides an exciting and unique opportunity to create a new organisation with a greater purpose, which is seen as a beacon for outstanding education, research and innovation.

Using our expanded workforce and estate to improve access to specialist services The merger brings a real opportunity to create an even better experience for our patients – ensuring people from North and surrounding areas will be able to be seen and treated in their local , and improving access to specialist services in both Bristol and Weston through better use of an expanded workforce, estates and facilities.

Our gynaecology teams have been working together across our Bristol and Weston sites to look at how we can further improve access to our gynaecology and obstetrics services in our newly merged organisation. We have already began to extend some of these services to , so that patients in Weston and its surrounding areas can be seen locally removing the inconvenience of having to travel to Bristol.

Some of the services either being offered already or under development include a consultant-led endometriosis service, urodynamics testing, as well as colposcopy and specialist antenatal clinics. We also plan to bring our gestational diabetes services across Bristol and Weston closer together and develop our obstetric care, working with psychiatry liaison nurses and specialist mental health midwives to provide multi-disciplinary perinatal mental health support to those who need it.

Emma Treloar (pictured), consultant obstetrician, has been working as part of a wider team to help plan how gynaecology and obstetrics services will deliver patient care across Bristol and Weston following the merger.

Emma said: “We have already seen positives such as expanding clinic capacity, sharing best practice between teams, and developing closer working with the maternity staff to improve the overall patient experience.

“We’re all really excited to develop our services further and to provide more specialist care to families from Bristol and Weston.”

What the merger means for our patients Patients will continue to access the same services, in the same locations delivered by the same teams when we merge on 1 April.

The main difference our patients might notice when we merge is the new name of the newly merged trust, which will be University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. Our hospital names, for example, Weston General Hospital and , will remain the same.

There are a small number of WAHT’s services which will transfer to a more appropriate provider on 1 April. Specialist Community Children’s Services will be provided by Sirona Care and Health who already provides children’s services across Bristol and South Gloucestershire. This includes community paediatrics, physiotherapy and occupational and speech and language therapy, and to ensure the correct expertise for all services, the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service is being sub-contracted by Sirona to Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, strengthening the existing partnership arrangements. Patients will continue to access their treatment and appointments in the same location they do now and the same staff will continue to provide their care.

Also, from 1 April Breast Cancer Services at Weston General Hospital will be provided by North Bristol NHS Trust, who already provide the Bristol Breast Care Service based at . There will be no changes to the way in which our patients receive their treatment – they will continue to have tests, appointments and surgery at Weston General Hospital, delivered by the same staff. The surgical, radiological and nursing teams will be working together across Weston General and Southmead hospitals to provide a high-quality service.

These provider transfers will ensure these services continue as part of an organisation which has the right expertise to continue to develop the service and enable the staff working in them to become part of a bigger more resilient team who specialise in the same area.

Getting involved in the new organisation There are lots of ways that patients, visitors and members of the public will be able to get involved in our newly merged organisation. As a foundation trust, members of the public can register as a member. Becoming a member is a great way to support, find out more and get involved in your local hospital. If you are already registered as a member or if you register as a member of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust ahead of the merger, your membership will continue when we become a newly merged organisation.

Being a foundation trust also means that we have a council of governors, which represents the views of its members, staff and patient community. The council of governors promote public and staff involvement, offer views on the future development of our services and undertake a range of statutory duties such as the appointment of the chair and non-executive directors. We are looking for members of the public to join the council, and elections will be running in Spring 2020.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a member or the governors elections, you can visit our website at uhbristol.nhs.uk, email [email protected] or speak to the membership team on 0117 342 3764.

(Two of Bristol’s governors, John and Marimo)

Celebrating merger with three-day arts festival in Weston-super-Mare The spotlight will shine on Weston-super-Mare in April in a pioneering three-day event showcasing arts and health in the community, co- produced by Culture Weston and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust’s Arts Programme.

The first ever of its kind, the Weston Arts + Health Weekender will celebrate togetherness and marks two significant events; the merger of our two hospital trusts and the launch of Culture Weston, a new initiative that promotes the culture and heritage of the town.

Anna Farthing, Arts Programme Director, University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The festival offers a great opportunity to look back at Weston’s history as a resort and celebrate the new partnerships being made across the arts and healthcare that can help people to look after themselves and each other. We want to celebrate the excellent practice that already exists, particularly in care of the elderly, and establish Weston as a beacon for arts and health in the future. We hope everyone will enjoy getting involved and that this will be the first of many such events.”

The Weekender event features a host of free and ticketed events in both indoor and outdoor places across the town, including Weston General Hospital, Weston College Conference Centre, the Grand Pier, Sovereign Centre, Italian Gardens, Weston Museum, Grove Park, Blakehay Theatre, libraries and the beach.

For more details and information about how to book, please go to: cultureweston.org.uk

Key milestones A thorough approvals process of the merger is underway. Key milestones include:

March · The Trust Boards meet separately to consider approval of the transaction, subject to satisfactory completion of the regulatory process · UH Bristol Council of Governors meets to consider approval of the process · Final submission and application to merge sent to Department of Health and Social Care for consideration

April · Subject to regulatory and Secretary of State approval (as outlined above), UH Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and Weston Area Health NHS Trust merge on 1 April to become University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust

Questions and feedback If you have a question or any feedback about our upcoming merger, you can send this to ubh- [email protected]

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