Manchester trusts launch cardiac joint venture

Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust and University Hospital of South Manchester Foundation Trust this month signed ‘heads of terms’ as a first step towards developing the single service.

Daniel Keenan, consultant cardiac surgeon at Central Manchester and assistant medical director of the trust, told HSJ this week that the joint venture could help transform heart services in the north west in the same way as the investment poured into the NHS in the early 2000s.

“Cardiology and surgical services moved from pretty pathetic services right up to comparable with Europe and North American standards [as a result of the investment],” he added.

“We all had a big leap forward… we understand the next big leap forward is going to be another quantum one and we believe that will only take place in a city like Manchester with us working totally together, hand in hand,” Professor Keenan said.

He said the move would not threaten competition rules and that a further collaboration with the University of Manchester and the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre would “suck [in] huge amounts of research money”, helping the city become a world leading heart centre.

“We’re not wanting to compete with one another, nor indeed with London. Our aspirations are to be competing with the German Heart Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore,” he said.

Professor Keenan said the combined service would result in “various spin-offs”, including the potential for more consultants to work across the two trusts and provide more services round the clock.

While no immediate changes were planned, he said there was a trend in cardiothoracic surgery towards “super specialist” disciplines. This could mean that different procedures were eventually performed by specialist consultants at different trusts.

“It starts to make sense that you’d be doing this particular procedure there and that procedure in the other place, and therefore maximising the potential of estate and equipment and personnel to the benefit of patients,” he said.

The programme to bring services at the two trusts together will be led by Bill McKenna, who led the merger of cardiac services between Barts Health Trust and University College London Hospitals Trust.

Professor Ian Jacobs, MAHSC director and dean of the faculty of medical sciences at the University of Manchester will also work with the trusts to develop the partnership.