Merger on hold; patients first or second?

You know how it is; you’ve sent out all the wedding invitations, you’ve booked a horse and carriage, there are geese at the front door, you've been given a lot of nice presents, all your family and friends are assembled in the church to watch you get married in a silly suit….and then the vicar asks if anyone has any objections to the marriage.

Oops!

No one noticed the ex-girlfriend who just burst in through the door;

This time last year Ashford and St. Peters announced its proposed merger with The Royal County Hospital, Guildford.

It’s a merger no one wants – as I reported before; a survey of consultants at Guildford showed that over 70% felt there would be no advantage for patients.

Obviously there won’t be – mergers just don’t work. All the scientific research shows that hospital mergers result in poorer outcomes and increased management costs….whatever they say.

The proposed merger is all about closing departments, laying off workers and ultimately selling off precious land to balance the books.

Now, embarrassingly, the Competition Authority has put the whole process on hold to investigate whether this will actually work in the interests of patients;

Royal Surrey and Ashford & St Peter's hospital merger delayed for more assessment - Get Surrey 

Plans to merge two Surrey hospital trusts have been delayed after the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) decided to carry out further investigations.

 

The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in Guildford, and Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were hoping to receive the go-ahead to merge on Thursday (February 19).

 

However, the CMA has decided to refer the merger to a second assessment phase, which will take six months to examine the plans.

 

It comes after the authority said it had "found that the merger could result in adverse effects for patients by reducing choice and competition across a range of elective specialties".

 

Nick Moberly, chief executive at the Royal Surrey, said: “We’re obviously disappointed with this decision as we believe a merger would result in a number of positive benefits for patients."

 

Management boards at both hospitals were set to discuss the latest turn of events at meetings next week.

 

Ashford and St Peter's chief executive, Suzanne Rankin, added: "Although this was not the decision we were hoping for, we understand that the CMA needs to carry out a more in-depth analysis of our plans to ensure this is in the best interests of patients.

"Unfortunately this means we will need to wait longer until a final decision is reached.”

 

The trusts hope the merger will save an estimated £10m-£20m and have said patients will not notice any changes in services in at the three hospital sites.

 

However, staff expressed their concerns about the plans in a questionnaire seen by the Surrey Advertiser.

 

Results showed 72% of consultant staff at the Royal Surrey did not believe care for patients would be improved in the proposed partnership, while 74% said they did not think the merger would benefit their department.

 

Andrea Coscelli, executive director for markets and mergers at the CMA, said: “Our job is to look at the evidence and examine the impact that a proposed merger could have on patient choice and the quality of healthcare services provided.

 

"Tens of thousands of patients a year are treated by the trusts in the specialties we've looked at and could be potentially affected by the loss of choice they currently have.

 

"If the trusts no longer have to attract patients who might choose to go elsewhere, it could mean their incentive to maintain and improve quality in those specialties is reduced.

 

"We acknowledge that there may be some benefits which result from the merger but given the extent of our concerns and the number of specialties and patients involved, we feel it is necessary to look at this merger in greater depth to ensure that it is in patients’ interests."

If you want to know more about the destructive effect of mergers over the last 30 years have a look at my ‘Merger Mania’ pages.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home:helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Ashford and St Peters merging again.

Just when we thought it was safe – they are at it again.

For the last two years Ashford and St Peter’s NHS Trust has been trying to take over poor old Epsom General Hospital – financially weak but with a good clinical reputation while with Ashford and St. Peter’s it’s the other way round.

There's no coincidence there, you get what you pay for.

Then that fell through to the relief of all the patients. If you are in any doubt, just look what happened when Ashford merged with St. Peters.

Now look what they are up to;

Get Surrey

  May 02, 2014 15:52 

  By James Watkins

The Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford and Ashford & St Peter's Hospitals NHS Trust have announced plans to merge, in a move which could save an estimated £10m-£20m.

 

If approved, the merger will take around 12 to 18 months to go through, and while full details have not been finalised it has been said that there could be reductions in back line staff, but there is no anticipation to reduce frontline services.

 

Nick Moberly, the chief executive of the Royal Surrey, said that from a patient point of view, they would not notice any changes or reduction in services across the three sites in Ashford, Chertsey and Guildford.

 

"It is not about taking things away from the sites, as now we can bring more specialised services back and grow specialised services," he said.

 

The trusts hope that by joining forces they can offer services which are currently only available in London, improve access to new treatments developed at both the University of Surrey and Royal Holloway, and pull resources together to create electronic patient records.

 

As well as that, the aim is to increase offering services over a seven-day period.

 

Medical director at the Royal Surrey, Christopher Tibbs, said: “Our strategy puts the patient at the heart of our plans and includes a clear vision for our three hospital sites, which already complement each other well.

 

"The Royal Surrey County Hospital will continue as an Emergency and Specialist Cancer Centre, with no planned changes to A&E, maternity or paediatric services, with the opportunity to develop more specialist cancer services.

 

"We want to develop St Peter’s Hospital as a Major Emergency Centre, building on recent developments in cardiovascular services and other specialities such as limb reconstruction and a Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit.

 

"Ashford Hospital will develop as a planned surgery and diagnostic centre where we can provide more local cancer treatments services.

 

"This is about enhancing services and doesn’t mean patients will have to travel further for routine hospital services.”

 

Andrew Liles, chief executive at Ashford and St Peter’s, said:  “Improving patient care for people in Surrey has been at the heart of our partnership work over the last 18 months.

 

"At the same time, our clinicians have developed a joint clinical vision which describes clear benefits for patients through increased collaboration.

 

"Having considered a number of options on the best way to deliver high quality services to patients, our boards have decided that the merger of our two organisations will provide the long-term, sustainable, high quality care that patients need.”

 

David Fluck, medical director at Ashford and St Peter’s, added: “Healthcare is changing and we must change with it.

 

"People are living longer, often with multiple conditions - combined with new medicines and technologies and a strong focus on improving quality of care, we need to transform the way we work to keep pace with these changes and continue to develop.

 

"The two trusts working together gives us the opportunity to make the transformational change we need for our patients.”

The merger is subject to regulatory approval from the Competition and Markets Authority and risk assessment by Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts.

No one wants this merger, no one will benefit from it except the managers.

Despite the assurances given, the only economic basis for the merger would be to downgrade the Accident and Emergency and Maternity units at Guildford so that patients are forced to use the units at St. Peter’s.

In the case of the A and E those are the people who sent me home with a displaced broken ankle for a week.

IT savings - since when was it ever possible to save any money on the bottomless pit of IT?

And patients?

No one in Guildford wants to go to Chertsey.

Staff?

No one wants to work at St. Peter’s.

Managers?

Bigger Trust means bigger salaries.

There is strong academic analysis that shows such mergers produce the opposite of what is expected; bigger hospitals result in higher administrative costs and poorer clinical outcomes. 

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

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