Single 'city-wide' trust proposed for Manchester

The recommendation would mean a new trust running services currently provided at Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust, University Hospitals of South Manchester FT and North Manchester General Hospital. NMGH is run by Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust.

The review only considered services in the city of Manchester, not wider Greater Manchester.

Central Manchester has said it ”strongly” supports starting discussions about creating a single trust, while South Manchester said it was committed to considering the proposal.

The independent review, conducted by Sir Jonathan Michael, the well regarded former trust chief executive, will be considered by the city council’s health and wellbeing board next week. 

Sir Jonathan rejected the idea of creating a “hospital chain”, which is the model being pursued by the acute trusts in Salford, Wigan and Bolton. 

In a letter to the council published today, he wrote: “The integration of all acute hospital services across the city of Manchester, into a new organisation, will provide the best opportunity for ensuring that all services are raised to the standard of the best.

“I believe that the resulting organisation would provide the clarity of leadership and the decision-making authority necessary to ensure current variation in hospital services is addressed….

“As you’re aware, the North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) site currently sits within the Pennine Acute  Hospitals Trust. My recommendation proposes that this hospital site and its services should be transferred into a new city-wide NHS trust.”

The first stage of his review recommended that cardiac services be consolidated on one hospital site, and several other specialties organised as “single services”.

Sir Mike Deegan, chief executive of CMFT, said he was “strongly supportive” of the recommendation to enter into discussions about how to create a single organisation, while Barry Clare, chairman of UHSM, said the trust is “fully committed” to consider the proposal. 

Sir David Dalton, the Salford Royal Foundation Trust chief executive, who is interim chief of Pennine Acute, said the proposals should take account of the ongoing review of services in the north-east of Greater Manchester, which is being led by Mike Farrar.