TWO hospital trusts have agreed to join forces in a bid to protect their long term future.

The boards of Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust and Royal West Sussex NHS Trust yesterday formally approved a proposal to merge both organisations.

West Sussex Primary Care Trust (PCT) and South East Coast Strategic Health Authority will now be asked to approve the plans before they are officially accepted by the Department of Health.

If all goes ahead, a new trust serving a population of more than 450,000 and an eventual income of more than £300 million a year will come into force in April.

Both trusts have been at the centre of controversial plans by the PCT to shake up hospital services in West Sussex.

The PCT had wanted to make Worthing the major hospital for the county which would have meant St Richard's Hospital in Chichester, which is run by the Royal West Sussex, losing some maternity, emergency surgery and children's inpatient services.

Campaigners warned lives would be put at risk if seriously ill patients from the western part of the county had to travel further afield for treatment.

The plans to centralise some services was partly to meet European standards for the number of hours junior doctors work and to meet Royal College training regulations about the number of cases medics deal with each year.

However a merger could mean that teams from both Worthing and Chichester would combine and work together to provide full services on each site.

Joining forces will also give both organisations a more secure financial footing and pave the way to achieving Foundation Trust status, giving them greater freedom from Whitehall.

The new trust would deal with around 67,000 inpatients, 35,000 day cases and around 376,000 outpatient visits or treatments a year.

Campaigners who have been fighting for more than two years to protect A&E, maternity and other units have given a cautious welcome to the news.

However some are still worried the PCT may still press ahead with its original plans and force medics to base most services at Worthing.

Mary Phillips, 44, from Broadwater, Worthing, said: "It all sounds good but I am still a little suspicious. We have always said both hospitals should keep full services and on paper that looks like what they are aiming for.

"The next step is to see what the PCT makes of it. We really don't want to have to be going through the same thing again a few years down the line."

In a joint statement, Worthing chairman Tom Robson and St Richard's chairwoman Susan Pyper said: "The two trust boards are delighted to announce their decision to merge.

"We are very proud of the two trusts and both boards are fully committed to continuing to improve the quality and range of services provided by the three hospitals.

"We will build on the best elements of each organisation to deliver sustainable and effective healthcare for the people of West Sussex.”

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