Different clinical services would work together in a joined-up way across the five trusts. The way services are joined up, or ‘networked’, would be different depending on the service.

Most services would continue to be delivered across all hospitals but would have shared clinical standards and ways of working to ensure consistent high-quality care, for example, across our emergency departments. 

Specialised services, such as complex neurosurgery, would be delivered by a specialist team of health professionals at one ‘centre of excellence’. Most of the care associated with these specialised services would be done locally, such as investigations, scans and outpatient appointments. Digital technology, such as video consultations, could be used wherever appropriate to avoid people having to travel.

As a principle, we would always try to deliver care as close to people’s homes as possible. Most specialties would have the majority of their services delivered locally, with only the most complex element delivered at a centre of excellence.

The following diagram gives a high-level overview of the spectrum of ways we could deliver services.

Where services are not already joined-up, clinical teams are now considering what working as a network would look like for their service, and what the benefits could be for patients, their families and our colleagues.