Royal Surrey Hospital Merger Proposal Finally Killed Off

Published on: 7 Nov, 2016
Updated on: 7 Nov, 2016

The Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford

The Royal Surrey County Hospital has finally decided not to merge with Ashford and St Peter’s.

In a statement it was announced: “Royal Surrey’s Board has concluded that it no longer believes merging offers the greatest opportunity for long term financial and operational stability and feels that it is unlikely that this position will change in the foreseeable future.”

According to the statement: “The purpose of the pause was to enable additional focus on the recovery plan to address Royal Surrey’s deteriorating financial position.”

The decision follows an announcement earlier this year that the decision would be paused pending a further review of the “strategic position”.

The statement continued: “Royal Surrey’s Board has undertaken a self-assessment in relation to the proposed merger and potential benefits. Having carefully considered the changes to the overall NHS landscape while the merger was paused it feels that the opportunity to deliver greater benefits to patient care and efficiency savings exist within the Surrey Heartlands Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) and wider healthcare networks.”

A statement issued by Ashford & St Peter’s Board said that it had: “… not undertaken a self-assessment in this way but in the light of the Royal Surrey Board’s position accepts that the merger will now not proceed.

“It recognises the potential value and patient benefits offered by the Surrey Heartlands STP and is absolutely committed to playing a significant and collaborative role in that plan alongside the opportunities presented through other strategic partnerships.

Paula Head

“Both organisations are committed to continuing to work together within the Surrey Heartlands STP, building on the positive relationships that we have developed over recent years. They will actively use the work completed as part of the proposed merger process to ensure the greatest outcomes for patients are delivered as part of this.”

In September a new Chief Executive for the Royal Surrey, Paula Head, was appointed. She said at the time: “I will also be working with the team at Royal Surrey to not just turnaround the organisation, but to transform the way we work so that we can ensure a stable financial base and achieve operational excellence.”

In September it was controversially announced that the hospital was to increase its car parking charges for the second time within a year to finance car park improvements.

In an article published in The Independent in October it was stated: “The most expensive trust in the country for a one-hour stay is the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, where patients are forced to pay £4 for any stay up to two hours. It does have a few bays where people can park for 20 minutes before being charged.”

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