New name for NHS Trust reflects ties with University

A single NHS Trust to run Oxfordshire's four teaching hospitals starts work today under the new name Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust. The University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust will remain two separate organisations, but the new name for the Trust marks a new and close working relationship between the University and the Trust in teaching, research and patient care. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust is the newly named NHS organisation arising from a merger of the city's two acute hospital Trusts (the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust). The John Radcliffe hospital, the Churchill hospital, the Horton General in Banbury and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre will retain their current names and functions, but will now be run by a single NHS Trust under a single board and management team. The merger of the the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust and the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre NHS Trust was approved last month by the Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley, and takes effect today. The University of Oxford plays no part in the merger, which is an NHS matter, but the new name of the merged Trust signals the close working relationship between the University and the local hospitals. A joint working agreement between the merged Trust and the University of Oxford will now come into operation, and provide a formal structure and governance for the relationship between the two organisations.