Press 2012 Press Releases 2012 Trust announced as preferred partner for Epsom Hospital
| Trust announced as preferred partner for Epsom Hospital |
| Written by Communications Team |
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Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been announced as the preferred bidder to partner Epsom Hospital to become a larger, three hospital Foundation Trust. Today’s announcement by the Transaction Board (responsible for overseeing the demerger of Epsom and St Helier hospitals) follows initial approvals by NHS London and NHS South of England with the go-ahead to develop a full business case for creating the new organisation. Chief Executive of Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Andrew Liles, comments: “We are delighted that we have been announced as the preferred partner for Epsom Hospital. Our plans to create a new, larger NHS Foundation Trust will mean significant benefits to patients across the proposed new catchment area of around 600,000 people as well as providing a stable future for Epsom hospital, its current patients and staff. A larger catchment population means we will be able to continue developing more specialist services – such as bariatric and vascular surgery – offering treatments locally in Surrey that previously would only have been provided in the larger London hospitals for example. Our vision for Epsom, which we have created in partnership with Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Central Surrey Health and The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, will create an innovative approach for the hospital, bringing together a wide range of convenient and sustainable services for the local population on one site. These important partnerships will also mean added benefits to our wider catchment over time and I am very much looking forward to developing our plans further over the next few months.” Michael Wilson, Chief Executive of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: “As Epsom’s nearest neighbour we are delighted that the future of the hospital has been secured by the partnership with Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals NHS Trust. We are looking forward to working with the new organisation on securing the best services for our local communities.” Tricia McGregor, managing director of Central Surrey Health, comments: “Central Surrey Health has a long established relationship with Epsom Hospital and the local community, for example we already provide all the therapy services on the Epsom site. We’re delighted to be part of this partnership that brings together some highly respected organisations all clearly focused on developing Epsom’s local health services." Cally Palmer CBE, Chief Executive of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust adds: “We are proud to be part of the future of Epsom Hospital, working with Ashford and St Peter’s and our other partners at Epsom. We look forward to working with the staff at Epsom to provide the very best treatment and care, supported by leading edge cancer research.” Andrew continues: “Of course there is still a huge amount of work to be done between now and a potential ‘go-live’ date of 1st April 2013, with further regulatory approvals to be sought from Monitor, our Foundation Trust regulator, and the Co-operation and Competition Commission. That said, we are committed to working towards a successful outcome and are very much looking forward to developing our vision and plans further with staff, patients and our wider stakeholders over the next few months.” |
