Who we are and what we do

University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust (UHBW) was formed on 1 April 2020 following the merger of University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and Weston Area Health NHS Trust. 

The information on this page is historic. Visit the UHBW Freedom of Information page for the latest information. 

How we fit into the NHS structure

Weston Area Health NHS Trust runs Weston General Hospital. It also runs community children’s services in Drove House, Weston-super-Mare and The Barn, Clevedon.

It is an acute Trust, which means it accepts patients referred to it by primary care professionals, usually General Practitioners (family doctors). It provides a full range of hospital services both for patients staying in the hospital and those visiting clinics as outpatients.  These include surgery, acute medical care and maternity services.

Acute Trusts work with the Primary Care Trusts (PCTS) which commission the services they provide, on behalf of the local population. Weston works with two local PCTs - NHS North Somerset (covering Portishead, Clevedon and Weston) and NHS Somerset (covering Burnham, Cheddar and Bridgwater). The PCTs work closely with local GPs, dentists, optometrists (eyes), podiatrists (feet) and pharmacists. They also have responsibility for public health issues, such as vaccinations or smoking cessation.

All NHS organisations – both acute trusts and PCTs – in the South West have their performance monitored by the local Strategic Health Authority – NHS South West (based in Taunton) - who report on local progress to the Department of Health in London. The Department of Health is a Government Department, headed by the Secretary of State for Health, currently Alan Johnson MP.

Organisational structure

We receive many requests for the structure of our departments. These diagrams show the structure of our Directorates. It is best to start with the one showing the Chief Executive and the Directors who report to her. The rest then show the posts which report to each individual Director.

Click to see a chart showing the overall organisational structure

Board Members

Key regional and local organisations and relationships

 

Organisation

Relevance

Relationship

ED lead

Government Office South West (GOSW)

Department of Health (DH) in the region

Through SHA

C/Exec

 

Learning and Skills Council South West

Funds allocated to support skills targets – post 16yrs education and training

Local Link

Dir HR

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Eliminating discrimination, securing equality

Local Link

Chairman

Dir HR

NHS South West

Oversees health services in the south west

 

C/Exec

Chairman

All Directors

Nth Somerset PCT

Commissions services from Trust

Work in partnership on some projects

Weston Futures Partnership Board

Performance Meetings

C/Exec

Chairman

All Directors

Other PCTs

Commission some services from Trust

 

Regular meetings

C/Exec

Dir Finance

Dir Strategic Development

Other NHS Trusts

Provision of some services as part of a clinical network

Joint Emergency planning

Regular meetings

C/Exec

Medical Director

Dir Strategic Development

Jobcentre Plus

Supporting people from welfare to work

Local Link

Dir HR

Healthcare Commission

Quality improvement and reviews

Local Link with National body

Dir Strategic Development

Unions and Royal Colleges

Representing staff and shaping health policies

Local link with national body

Dir Nursing

Medical Director

Dir HR

Health and Safety Executive (HSE)

Stewardship of funds to protect health and safety at work

Regulatory

C/Exec

Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee North Somerset

 

Power to scrutinise local health services

Consultee for all formal consultation processes

Invited attendee according to agenda

C/Exec

 Health Summit Board

Joint agency approach to addressing health issues

Member of Board

Chairman

Dir Strategic Development

Health and Wellbeing Partnership Board

Joint agency approach to addressing health issues

Member of Board

Chairman

Dir Strategic Development

Weston College

Joint agency approach to addressing health issues and engaging young people through dialogue/projects in the work of the NHS

Regular meetings

Dir Strategic Development

UK Youth Parliament South West

Enables young people to use voice creatively to bring about social change

Regular meetings with Local youth representative

C/ Exec

Dir Strategic Development

Avon and Somerset Constabulary

Joint agency approach to addressing drugs, crime and health issues including emergency planning/incident management

Regular meetings

Dir Strategic Development