Birmingham hospitals to share chief executive role

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-33271985

Version 0 of 1.

Birmingham's Children's and Women's hospitals are to share a chief executive in a move seen as paving the way for a merger.

The two trusts are investigating opportunities to merge by 2017, with plans to build a new hospital by 2022 at a cost of about £430m.

Sarah-Jane Marsh will take over the running of both hospitals.

She said a full merger, if it went ahead, would mean "amazing world-class care" for patients.

Ms Marsh said research projects would also benefit.

'Completely seamless'

"They're already two world-leading hospitals. We get patients coming from all over the country, and wider, to access our services," she said.

"The fact that we can join them together would make them completely seamless for patients."

In some of the most complicated cases, mothers and their newborn babies are currently spilt up to receive specialist treatment, while a single hospital would allow them to receive care at the same site.

Currently, the preferred option is to use the women's hospital site in Edgbaston and sell off the children's hospital site in the city centre, to help fund the move.

Ms Marsh said more work would need to be done to make sure the Edgbaston site was large enough to accommodate both hospitals.