Better services for patients and less NHS bureaucracy are predicted in the expansion of a hospital trust, writes Paul Harris.

Health minister Baroness Hayman has given the go-ahead for the amalgamation of the Radcliffe Infirmary NHS Trust with the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust. In the next two weeks, the board of the Infirmary will stand down and the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust will take on all its responsibilities, ready for the June 1 launch.

The change should save the NHS £100,000 a year, improve its use of resources and help planning, too. Oxfordshire Health Authority said there would be no compulsory redundancies and, for the vast majority of staff, there would be little or no change to their jobs. Nick Relph, acting chief executive of the health authority, said: "This move is all about reducing bureaucracy and promoting integration and working together. I believe, as do the Trust boards, that the proposals will make a significant contribution to the proposed relocated of services from the Infirmary to Headington, and would create additional benefits for the patients of Oxfordshire and beyond." John MacDonald, chief executive of the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital NHS Trust, said: "This is an important development for the future of health services in Oxfordshire, and we are keen to take it forward with the Radcliffe Infirmary."

The city's hospital trusts have been working together on the relocation of services for many years. Last year it was agreed to move the Infirmary's specialist neuroscience and plastic surgery services to the JR, together with the eye hospital, ear, nose and throat services, and genito-urinary medicine.

Baroness Hayman said of the merger: "It will bring greater opportunities for collaboration between clinical services, overcome fragmentation and maximise the use of resources by reducing the duplication of services and management."

Story date: Wednesday 19 May

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