This page has been developed to provide you with answers to frequently asked questions about the upcoming merger between University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and Weston Area Health NHS Trust. If you have any further questions, you can email the merger inbox at: ubh-tr.uhbristolwestonpartnership@nhs.net
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UH Bristol) and Weston Area Health NHS Trust (WAHT) plan to merge as one organisation on 1 April 2020. When we merge, our new trust will be called University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust. This builds on the partnership the two trusts have had in place since 2017. Patients will continue to have access to the same services and teams in the same locations. The names of our individual hospitals, like Weston General Hospital and Bristol Royal Infirmary, will remain the same.
The merger is an exciting and unique opportunity to create a new organisation with a greater purpose. By building on the many years of partnership working between the two Trusts and taking the step to become a single organisation, we'll have a combined workforce of over 13,000 staff, aiming to deliver exceptional local services for local people and specialist services across the South West and beyond.
The merger will help bring stability to Weston General Hospital, so that it remains at the heart of the community, providing services that meet the needs of its local people.
We will also have a real opportunity to create an even better experience for our patients - ensuring people from North Somerset and surrounding areas will be able to be seen and treated in their local hospital, and improving access to specialist services in both Bristol and Weston through better use of an expanded workforce, estates and facilities.
A 13,000+ strong workforce increases our diversity, capacity and resilience, allowing for greater development opportunities for our staff across a much wider portfolio of services, strengthening the knowledge base, peer support and skills and experience of all our employees.
The merger provides an opportunity to share expertise and best practice - particularly in the delivery of exemplar models of frailty, ambulatory and out-of-hospital care. We will use the opportunity to develop and learn from each other to create truly joined up care which enables people to stay in their own home, or return home as soon as they no longer need our care.
Yes. The merger will bring stability to Weston General Hospital so that people from North Somerset and surrounding areas can continue to be seen and treated in their local hospital.
Weston Area Health NHS Trust is the smallest hospital trust in the country, which has meant it has continued to experience significant and long standing financial and staffing challenges. It cannot survive in its current form. Joining with University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust offers the financial security of a bigger trust to ensure our high quality services can continue, as well as opportunities to expand and improve our services.
Patients will continue to access the same services, same teams and same locations when we merge. As a newly merged organisation, we will have opportunities to improve access to our existing services and bring some specialist services to Weston General Hospital. This will reduce the need for people to travel for care and treatment which could be provided locally.
There will be no changes to our services when we merge, so please continue to use them as you would have done before the merger. You don't need to plan to travel anywhere different to where you would normally go to access treatment. Information about our services is available on our Bristol and Weston websites:
The only difference you should notice when we merge is our new name, which will be University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust from 1 April. Our hospital names, like Weston General Hospital and Bristol Royal Infirmary, will remain the same.
Yes. The newly merged organisation will be a foundation trust, which means members of the public can sign up to be a member. Becoming a member is a great way to support, find out more about and get involved in your local hospital.
Being a foundation trust also means that we have a council of governors, which represents the views of its members, staff and patient community. They help to guide the development of the organisation and hold the board to account on major decisions. We are looking for members of the public to join the council, and elections will be running in Spring 2020.
If you would like to find out more about becoming a member or the governors elections, you can visit our website at uhbristol.nhs.uk, email foundationtrust@uhbristol.nhs.uk or speak to the membership team on 0117 342 3764
The newly merged organisation, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, will be legally responsible for all data. The same standards of confidentiality and security that apply to all NHS organisations will remain in place. As now, your information will only be accessed by those who need to provide you with care, and in very limited circumstances, others with a specific legitimate and lawful need. More information about how we use your data can be found online at uhbristol.nhs.uk/about-us/privacy/. If you have any questions, you can email the Trust's Data Protection Officer via informationgovernance@uhbristol.nhs.uk
If you have a question or any feedback about our upcoming merger, you can send this to ubh-tr.uhbristolwestonpartnership@nhs.net. If you would like to receive a regular update about the merger, please let us know via the email address above.