User:Tenchy10/sandbox

History
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust officially was founded on October 2nd 2020 following the merge of Poole NHS Foundation Trust and Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, following nine years of planning, legal challenges and delays. A attempt to merge the two trusts started back in 2011 but was blocked in October 2013 by the Competition Commission, in its first intervention into the NHS. At the end of 2015 each health and care system in England was asked to create a local Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs). As part of the STP for Dorset it was proposed that between Poole Hospital and Royal Bournemouth Hospital one would become 'a Major Planned Care Hospital with Urgent Care Centre' and the other 'a Major Emergency Hospital with A&E services'. In late 2017 the plans to reorganise NHS hospital services in Dorset were laid out in full by Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and were unanimously agreed by health bosses. The plans were aimed to create specialist treatment centres in the county as well as to reduce a projected £158m-a-year funding shortfall. However campaigners against the changes claim that at least 183 people a year will die as a result of the longer travel time to access emergency treatment. A judicial review was brought before the high court in September 2018 by the Defend Dorset NHS campaign group claiming longer travel times for emergency care would risk patient safety, however the High Court judge ruled in favour of the CCG. In his final judgement, judge Sir Stephen Silber said: "I appreciate that some residents of Dorset will be disappointed by this decision, but it might be some compensation for them to know that the claimant's case has been very well argued, as has the case for the CCG."