Southport and Ormskirk Hospital Trust is set to welcome a new partnership with Knowsley and St Helens Teaching Hospitals Trust in a bid to ensure "around a dozen or so 'fragile'" services aren't lost.
This has come despite the Care Quality Commission ruling the NHS Trust was told it had improved across the board earlier this year after it had been rated as “requires improvement” in August 2019.
The NHS Trust has also seen its chief executive resign this week, with Trish Armstrong-Child to take on a new role at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
READ MORE: Drug kingpin's empire brought to its knees by mobile phone footage
Neil Masom, Trust Chair, said: “The Trust has made significant progress over the past 18 months to stabilise and improve service quality for patients. It is a massive testament to our staff that this has been achieved in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Only this year, the Care Quality Commission reported improvements in all areas inspected following an unannounced visit as well as noting the positive changes to leadership and culture.
“However, we still face significant challenges, especially around a dozen or so ‘fragile’ clinical services which we are unlikely to be able to continue providing alone. We can only do this with the support of the wider NHS.
“The Trust Board and NHS England consider that St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is best placed to offer support. We are now in discussions about how this might be achieved.”
Receive newsletters with the latest news, sport and what's on updates from the Liverpool ECHO by signing up here
