New era for the Royal Oldham Hospital after change in NHS trust management

The Rochdale Road site is being run by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA), which is one of the largest NHS organisations in the country, employing more than 20,000 staff.

It was previously being managed by The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust (PAT) but both PAT and Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust have merged to join Northern Care Alliance.

As Salford Royal and Pennine Acute Trusts have worked together as one organisation under a group arrangement, Northern Care Alliance NHS Group, since 2017, it is anticipated the impact of the formal transfer and creation of the new trust will be minimal for both staff and patients.

The names and identities of the trust’s four hospital sites will remain unchanged.

After approval from Health Secretary Sajid Javid, the transfer will also mark the formal dissolution of PAT, which has been running for nearly 20 years.

Salford Royal has teamed up with Pennine Acute through the NCA Group over the past five years with the aim bring services and staff together, which has helped to deliver "significant improvements".

This includes the quality of care and standards, which have been recognised by healthcare regulator, the Care Quality Commission.

The NCA is now made up of four hospitals, 2,000 beds, specialist and acute services, a range of associated community healthcare and social care services.

The trust is investing in and developing new digital technologies and systems, creating new models of care and integrated services, sharing skills and learning, and investing in its people and services.

Birth centre manager at The Royal Oldham Hospital, Dawn Lee, has worked for the trust since 1989.

She said: “There have been so many changes since I began my career here.

"I was part of the national Project 2000 nursing programme and have worked in a number of areas, from intensive care supporting families enduring their worst moments to our fantastic birth centre where we share such joy with people welcoming their new babies.

"The team here are like extended family, and although I’m approaching the end of my professional career now, I’m sure that the NCA will continue to develop and care for our local communities for many years to come.”

NCA chairman, Professor Michael Luger

Chairman of Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, Professor Michael Luger, added: “This marks the start of a new era for our organisation and for everyone who works and volunteers across our hospitals and services."

"Today is a monumental day for the NCA.

"We formally transition from two trusts to a single, joined-up organisation – the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust.

"We are delighted that this day has arrived.

"A great deal of work has been going on behind the scenes, involving many of our teams, working with our partners, to bring us to this point.

"And we have already seen the benefits of bringing our staff and services together under one group over the past five years.

"We can now focus our attention and efforts on what is important – investing in and further transforming and integrating our services for our staff, patients and service users.

“The NCA will continue to take an active role across our four localities in Oldham, Bury, Rochdale and Salford, working with our place-based partners to drive further integration and improvements in the health outcomes of the communities we serve.

"I also want to thank our staff for everything they do every day for each other and for those who need our care.

"It is right that we come together today to recognise the exceptional hard undertaken and look forward to a positive future, together.”