29 July 2024

We, with more than 70,000 people who have signed our petition (an online version of the petition can be signed here), oppose these plans but we publish this letter so everyone can see all the details we have on the proposals.

We have been promised earnestly (!)and repeatedly in board meetings that our campaign would be consulted about plans for the future of Liverpool Women’s Hospital. What we got, however, was a leaked copy of a letter to staff written by the joint chief executive of Liverpool University Hospital Trust and Liverpool Women’s Hospital. We will publish our response shortly.

This is the letter

Dear colleagues,

As you will all know, the adult and specialist Trusts in Liverpool have a strong record of working together for the benefit of patients and their families across the city, and the region.

We have a lot to be proud of, for example the stroke pathway service between Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, the cancer pathways across all Trusts, and improved diagnostics waiting times across the city.

In January 2023, a report called the Liverpool Clinical Services Review recommended we continue to build on this in several key areas to help create a healthier city. Since this report, good progress has been made towards ever further collaborative working across the system.

Next Steps for Collaborative Working in Liverpool

As the next step in this work, NHS Cheshire and Merseyside has asked the five adult acute and specialist Trusts in Liverpool to establish a joint committee. Its purpose is to create sustainable healthcare systems for the future with a clear focus on improving patient care and outcomes.

Staff in all Trusts work incredibly hard and care deeply about doing the right thing for patients. As we all know there are significant challenges facing the NHS – pressures every day, capacity, and funding. And this year is going to be the toughest yet.

We have been asked by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside to come up with a way to act more quickly, find solutions and have a simpler way of making decisions about things that involve us all with a clear focus on improving patient care and outcomes.

Adult Acute and Specialist Hospitals Joint Committee

The Chairs and Chief Executives of the five adult acute and specialist Trusts, outlined below, will sit on the joint committee:

• Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (LHCH),
• Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (LUHFT),
• Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust (LWH),
• The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust (CCC), and
• The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust (TWC).

This will enable more streamlined decision making and help to build upon existing collaboration with a specific requirement to collectively manage the financial position across the Trusts, deliver economies of scale and manage vacancy controls

The focus of the joint committee will be to establish the new governance arrangements, meeting in shadow form (i.e no formal authority) in September 2024 and be in place formally (i.e. with authority to make decisions) by April 2025.

Over the coming weeks the detailed delivery plans are being developed. I am committed to ensuring colleagues are updated as more information on the joint committee plans becomes available.  Colleagues at the other Trusts are also receiving this information today.

Shared Board of Directors for Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation  Trust and Liverpool Women’s NHS Foundation Trust

Additionally, LUHFT and LWH are building upon their existing joint board appointments and are working towards developing a shared Board of Directors. This supports Liverpool Women’s Hospital’s long-stated ambition to be aligned to a larger acute Trust to support the management of identified clinical risks.

Work is underway to develop the detailed plans for establishing the joint board by late Autumn 2024.

The Women’s Hospital Services in Liverpool Programme, commissioned by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside will continue to progress with developing proposals for safe, high-quality maternity and gynaecology services in Liverpool through public consultation and engagement.

These new governance arrangements will not impact on the delivery of services at the respective hospital sites or on this established programme of work.

Keeping you updated

We will keep you all informed as much as possible through regular Trust-wide communications and through your line managers. We know that many of you may have questions in relation to this subject. We have drafted some initial FAQs that you may find useful. ( this link is better: our edit)

If you have any further questions, please send them to communications@liverpoolft.nhs.uk – to help inform updates to the FAQs, further communications and briefings.

The author is James Sumner Chief Executive of Liverpool Universities Foundation Trust and of Liverpool Women’s Hospital

The Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital campaign will publish a detailed response as soon as we can do so with real consideration of the risks involved in these proposals. Meanwhile please keep campaigning to Restore and Repair our NHS so such dangers to our healthcare are removed.

For all our mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, lovers and every single baby, Save Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Restore and Repair the NHS