The Board of Southport & Ormskirk hospitals have confirmed they will seek assistance from St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals Trust over ‘fragile clinical services’.
The Board said that despite improvements noted by the Care Quality Commission, there were ‘a dozen or so ‘fragile’ clinical services’ which the Trust was struggling to continue offering alone.
Earlier in the week, following the resignation of Southport hospital Chief Exec Trish Armstrong-Child, the Health Service Journal revealed senior sources had said the move should start a takeover of S&O by the St Helens trust.
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.”
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