A NORTH East health trust has been announced as the preferred bidder to take over the running of two hospitals in north Cumbria.
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been selected to run the Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and Whitehaven’s West Cumberland Hospital.
North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Trust has suffered financial problems and the trust accepted it was not strong enough to survive on its own, and agreed the takeover as it aimed to become part of a larger organisation.
An alliance was forged between Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. However, Northumbria was chosen after the board of North Cumbria Hospitals NHS Trust evaluated the financial and non-financial proposals from each bidder.
David Evans, medical director for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “If trusts are not able to meet the standards to become a foundation trust they are then asked to merge or be taken over by another trust. We have been part of that process over the last five or six months.
“We have been chosen to go on to the next stage of that process as the preferred bidder. Critically for us, it allows us now to start to look in a much more detailed way at the information about Cumbria. We haven’t before now been able to get full commercial information – now we can start to work together.”
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said it was excellent news for patients and staff and, over the coming months, bosses will work with all stakeholders to ensure hospital-based care is fit for the future and on a sound financial footing. But they said impact on North East patients would be minimal.
The move was welcomed by the joint health unions, royal colleges and professional associations.
In a statement they said: “We believe the appointment should represent a fresh start, and we therefore call on the new management of the trust to work in partnership with us to ensure that the interests of the patient are now given the priority they deserve. The patients, families and staff of North Cumbria deserve a trust that is well-run, well-managed, and that focuses on delivering high-quality patient care.”
The decision marks the start of the acquisition process and, therefore, North Cumbria University Hospitals NHS Trust will continue to be managed as a separate organisation until it is completed.
A joint statement from Guy Broome and Charles Brett, chairmen of the medical staff committees for Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital respectively, said: “There will be excellent short and long-term gains for our patients of North Cumbria and indeed for the professional careers of hospital staff.
“As clinicians, we look forward to the opportunity of working with our new colleagues in bigger regional teams.”
