Four into one merger plan for Manchester stirs opposition

Consultation on the plans put forward by Manchester health authority and Manchester city council closes this week.

Their 'preferred option' is to set up a city-wide trust specialising in mental health, with an annual budget of£35m.

The new trust, which would cover a population of 435,000, would replace the community and acute mental health services provided by four trusts in the city.

But responses to the consultation have warned that the plans are badly timed and should be put on hold until ministers decide whether to approve a primary care trust in Manchester.

A PCT would provide community services as well as commissioning them.

But a spokesperson for Manchester HA said 'the city-wide approach' was 'anticipating' government guidance in the long-awaited mental health national service framework.

It wou ld prov ide 'greater cohesion' between health and social care and 'a uniform service across the city'.

Salford and Trafford HA chief executive Dr Ian Greatorex said the plans did not go far enough.

He called for 'a network of care' for mental health stretching from Manchester to his own district.

'We need a base of 800,000 to 1 million people to develop appropriate, good quality services' particularly for severe mental illness, he said.

But existing providers have criticised the proposals.

South Manchester University Hospitals trust chief executive Jane Herbert responded: 'We should surely allow PCGs and PCTs to settle into place so that we don't have to make a series of unsettling changes.'

And a draft response due to be agreed by North Manchester Healthcare trust's board this week warns that a city-wide trust could 'fragment current services' for problems related to mental health, such as alcohol or drug abuse.