Over the past year the boards of three hospital trusts in outer south east London have been working together to explore the rationalisation of common functions such as human resources, finance, and some clinical services such as pathology. They have also been thinking about how they might create the best organisation for delivering top quality health services to local residents in the years to come.

The executive and clinical leadership at Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust (BHT), Queen Elizabeth Hospital NHS Trust (QEH) and Queen Mary’s Sidcup NHS Trust (QMS) are now considering the possibility of merging their three organisations. They believe a merger would yield considerable benefits for patients and local residents.

It would provide the opportunity to create a new platform for delivering top quality health services to local residents in the years to come.

All three trusts have a track record of providing good health services for local people. This record is reflected in strong support from the public and other stakeholders. But uncertainties about the future are straining clinical services and it will become even more difficult to maintain decent health services for the people of south east London when the European Working Time Directive comes fully into force in 2009. The new, larger, combined trust would be in a far stronger position to ensure the continuing provision of top quality health services for local people.

A new, larger NHS trust will provide the critical mass that enables the NHS to develop sustainable and resilient clinical services into the future and it will help ensure financial resilience and sustainability too. It will also mean that the NHS in south east London can develop, recruit and retain the leadership it needs to provide world class health services for local people.

The merger proposal is restricted solely to organisational issues. No changes to clinical care are being proposed as part of these proposals. The focus is exclusively on improving management and organisational arrangements to ensure we have a resilient organisation with sufficient critical mass to deliver the best possible health services.

The merger is not principally about saving money – though it will save around £2½m a year in management costs. Nor is it principally about clinical services or A Picture of Health.

These proposals will be of interest to many local people – including NHS staff - and we hope you will tell us what you think about the proposals to merge BHT, QEH and QMS. To make your voice heard please click the “feedback” button at the top of this page.