Date published: 28 May 2021

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust (MCFT) is delighted to have completed the acquisition of North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NWBH) and will now provide an enlarged range of mental health and community health services across Merseyside, Cheshire and the North West region.

As of 1 June 2021, staff and services will become part of Mersey Care after approval for the transaction was given by regulators NHS England and NHS Improvement and the Executive Boards of both Trusts.

Services including specialist inpatient and community services that support mental health, learning disabilities and children’s and young people’s mental health services (CAHMS) will transfer across to Mersey Care. Other services moving over, alongside just over 3,000 members of staff from NWBH, range from physical health to perinatal services and services for older people.

“The two Trusts have been working together since 2019 to share resources and jointly provide the best quality healthcare across the footprint of both Trusts,” said Joe Rafferty CBE, Mersey Care’s Chief Executive.

“Following detailed internal discussions, it was decided to bring our services together into a larger Mersey Care, which we believe will be better for patients, service users, carers and staff across a larger footprint.

The acquisition of North West Boroughs Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust... what does it mean for you?

“The big benefit for the two organisations coming together is that it presents opportunitieto make sure high quality, integrated physical and mental health services are provided across a much larger geographical footprint. That will strengthen our commitment to improve the health of the communities we serve, meet the growing demand for out of hospital services and increasingly provide care closer to home.

“It’s important patients understand there’ll be no change in their services, just a change in who manages them, and we want to work with them by asking their views so we can  improve how they access those services in the future.”

Mental health services in Wigan, Bolton and Greater Manchester, previously provided by NWBH, were transferred to Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust on 1 April 2021. Services currently delivered to people living in Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens and Warrington will transfer to Mersey Care.