Health trusts to seek Chair in Common

Update from Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust and The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust:

Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust and The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust are pleased to announce plans to recruit a Chair in Common across the two organisations further progressing their shared ambition to improve services for the communities across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, the Black Country and borders and mid-Wales.

This is an exciting step forward which will bring greater alignment between the trusts and builds upon the great work the trusts’ teams have been doing together. This includes, the recent development of two Rehabilitation and Recovery Units, led by the community teams on both hospital sites, together with Virtual Ward and Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT) services too.

This move signals a shared commitment to strengthening joint working for the benefit of patients, service users and families. Whilst the trusts remain as separate statutory bodies, they will seek to appoint the same person to the Chair role for each trust.

Patricia Davies, Chief Executive at Shropshire Community Health Trust, says: “This is a really positive move as having a Chair in Common enables us to leverage all the benefits of working clinically together particularly around sub-acute care. Whilst also recognising the wider reach that community services offer to the population of STW, The Black Country and borders.”

Louise Barnett, Chief Executive of The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to deliver greater alignment and collaboration across our two organisations, which importantly will improve care for patients through more integrated care and our focus on delivering care closer to home.”