NHS proposes ‘hospital chains’ initiative to secure future of small, local hospitals

Local hospital wards will be run by world-renowned NHS organisations such as Royal Marsden and Moorfieldo Eye Hospital. In some cases, specialists from top institutions could be seconded to smaller hospitals in their region to provide services such as orthopaedics and ophthalmology.

Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, said the shake-up would end “the era of go-it-alone hospitals”.

The process of fragmenting the NHS into separate, standalone organisations managing individual hospitals, dates back to the 1960s. Ed Smith, the chairman of the hospital regulator Monitor, advises that the health service needed to evolve. It is expected that sharing staff, services and resources between NHS trusts will ensure more consistency in the standards and systems of care patients receive at different hospitals.

Greater Manchester, London and Northumbria are the first cities expected to receive “multi-hospital chains”. In another initiative, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust will benefit from a partnership with Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

Meanwhile, specialist hospitals such as Moorfield, based in London and orthopaedic centres in Birmingham, north London and Shropshire, will co-ordinate how specialist care is delivered nationwide.

Mr Stevens said: “Rather than patients routinely having to travel to specialist centres, we want to test the idea of bringing that expertise to their local hospital.

“This could help support a viable future for many smaller hospitals that are often so important to local communities, and improve the quality and range of services available, reducing the need to travel long distances.”

Nigel Edwards, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust health think-tank, praised the plan but said it would take time to implement.

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