Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to reorganise NHS trusts in the Black Country.

Since the establishment of the sustainability and transformation partnership there has been much greater collaboration between organisations in the Black Country and West Birmingham.

There is an ambition to work much more closely together to reduce the variance in services, standardise clinical practices and take the best part of each other’s improvement programmes which will ultimately improve outcomes for local people.

Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust and Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust have therefore indicated that they are looking to progress a strategic collaboration arrangement, which is due to be discussed in upcoming public board meetings.