What is happening and why?
Bridgewater Community Healthcare (BCH) and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals (WHH) want to provide better care together.
We need strong and resilient clinical services, and our healthcare system must be sustainable for the future.
We know that we can achieve more together for both our patients and staff.
We are joining forces and working as one. Together we will improve healthcare services for our communities.
We’ll involve our staff, partners and people with lived experience, and we will work and behave as a single organisation.
Subject to all necessary approvals, we will become a single organisation by April 2026.
This will help us to create the environment, leadership and governance for high-quality clinical and corporate services to thrive.
With shared leadership, we are integrating our services.
We will have a joint chief executive and a shared executive team.
We’ve established an integration programme called Better Care Together and we need your support to make it a success.
Our organisations have much in common, and we are looking forward to a bright future for healthcare services in Warrington and Halton, and those we provide further afield.
What benefits will this bring?
Our ultimate aim is to improve patient outcomes and service delivery.
We will see shorter waiting times, with a more streamlined patient journey through the joining up of services.
Importantly, patients will have a better experience when accessing community and hospital healthcare services.
There are many other benefits, including greater use of digital solutions where appropriate to enable the right care to be provided in the right place, more services being provided as close to home as possible, and complex and specialised services being made stronger and more resilient.
All of this will make our services more sustainable for future patients who may need them.
In all that we do, we will work to reduce health inequalities and improve access to services.
Is this just to save money?
No. While being a larger organisation will bring with it greater economies of scale and cost savings are to be expected, the primary motivation is to improve patient care.
Efficient use of our resources enables us to provide the best care possible.
We believe that bringing our organisations together as one is the right thing to do for the communities we serve across Warrington, Halton and beyond.
Who decided on this change?
Our two organisations began discussions about working more collaboratively together back in 2019, just before the pandemic.
COVID-19 delayed these talks, but they resumed when it became clear that there were significant opportunities for further integration.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside support the decision to bring our organisations together.
What will these new arrangements offer that the existing separate trusts cannot?
We believe that more joined up, seamless, integrated care is best for patients.
We know that people are living longer, with more complex healthcare needs and with more interactions with multiple parts of the healthcare system.
Having fragmented services can increase clinical risk and negatively impact on overall patient experience.
Another big advantage is scale.
A larger organisation can provide services more efficiently and with greater resilience, offering a broader range of recruitment opportunities and becoming more attractive for future development.
Additionally, we’ll benefit from greater diversity, depth, and breadth in our decision-making, enabling us to learn and implement improvements more rapidly and ensuring the highest possible quality of care.
What would happen if WHH and Bridgewater stayed as they are?
We recognise that we need to change to meet the evolving needs of our population.
Doing so will ensure that we can meet those needs in the longer term and be sustainable clinically and financially.
Is this a merger or a takeover?
We are making good progress on our integration programme to bring together community and hospital services across Bridgewater Community Healthcare and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals.
This change will help us to achieve our ambitions and deliver the greatest benefits for our patients and staff.
Our two Boards agreed to an options appraisal process to identify the best way forward.
After considering several possibilities, which included a merger, acquisitions, or a shared leadership model, a recommendation was taken to both Trust Boards in February.
It was unanimously agreed that the preferred way forward is for the acquisition of Bridgewater Community Healthcare by Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals. Subject to all the required approvals, we plan to become one single organisation by April 2026.
Our two organisations are stronger and better together, and we are in a unique position to bring about meaningful change – improving services and pathways for the benefit of our patients and communities.
How was the options appraisal recommendation decided?
To ensure a fair and thorough process, we set up an options appraisal panel made up of 10 executive and non-executive Board members to equally represent both organisations.
The panel considered detailed information and evidence, scoring each option against 19 criteria grouped into six key areas:
- Patient impact and benefits
- Patient care sustainability
- Workforce and culture
- Financial sustainability and value for money
- Strategic alignment
- Deliverability
The panel made a unanimous decision on the recommendation that was put forward to both Trust Boards.
Will it be a new organisation with a new name?
During January and February 2025, we asked for views on the future name of our partnership.
We received 370 responses from staff, patients, carers and members of the public, community groups, and partner organisations.
After careful consideration, taking all feedback into account, our two Trust Boards agreed that our partnership name will be ‘North Cheshire and Mersey Healthcare Partnership’.
This will evolve into our future organisational name, ‘North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust’, when we become one organisation and subject to approval as part of the NHS transaction required.
We plan for our dental service name to be ‘North West Community Dental Service’, which will make more sense for patients receiving dental care in Greater Manchester for example.
Why is the dental service having a different name?
As a valued part of our organisation, we needed to find a special solution that works for our dental services.
While it wasn’t possible to come up with a suitable partnership name that would cover all geographical areas where we provide dental services, we have had discussions with senior dental colleagues and agreed to introduce a prominent service brand.
We plan for the service name to be ‘North West Community Dental Service’, which will make more sense for patients receiving dental care in Greater Manchester for example.
Will the future organisation name still include Teaching Hospital status?
No, the planned name for our future organisation is ‘North Cheshire and Mersey NHS Foundation Trust’.
We aim for our unified organisation to provide more care in people’s own homes and in their local communities, as part of our ambition to be an integrated provider of outstanding acute and community services.
Our commitment to teaching and learning remains unchanged, and we will reflect this in the wider communications about our future organisation so that we can continue to attract the best talent.
When will things change?
Our joint chief executive, Nikhil Khashu, started in post on 1 November 2024, and we now have a shared executive team with several joint executive posts covering both organisations (medical director, chief operating officer, chief nurse and director of the delivery unit).
We are reviewing governance arrangements and plan to have these established in 2025.
Closer collaboration between our clinical and corporate teams is happening now, and we are already seeing benefit from it.
Any proposed service changes will involve staff, patients and the public as required, and we are committed to co-producing changes wherever possible.
Will there be a disruption to care?
Maintaining the consistency and quality of care is a top priority for us – any proposed services changes will not compromise that, and all will be guided by a robust quality impact assessment.
How will these changes affect my care?
To start with you should notice minimal changes to your care – you’ll continue to see the same healthcare professionals at your local hospital, in your community, or at home.
Over time, we aim to enhance the quality of care and make more advanced use of technology.
Depending on the care you receive, you may also experience additional benefits such as shorter wait times or increased support outside of appointments.
We will engage with our local communities so that as many people as possible can help us to shape plans.
Formal consultations on proposed changes to clinical services may be required in the future, which will provide another opportunity for people to share their views.
Will it reduce waiting times?
Yes. Bringing our organisations together will enable us to improve access to services and reduce waiting times.
The extent of this may vary by service as there are many other factors involved in waiting times, including some that are beyond our control.
What happens to my data?
Your data will continue to be stored securely and confidentially.
It can only be accessed by NHS staff where there is a strong, valid reason, such as ensuring you receive appropriate care.
Initially, our organisations will maintain our separate data systems, but the intention is to integrate and consolidate these systems where appropriate over time.
This will help clinicians access information from other services to provide the best possible care, whilst safeguarding your personal data.