Health and social care services in Herefordshire could be merged into one organisation under plans to make £5million a year savings.
Hereford Hospitals Trust Board, which runs the County Hospital, would have to approve a move to forge stronger links with the jointly-run Herefordshire Council and NHS Primary Care Trust.
The three bodies already have computer and communications staff in common. Social care integration is due to begin next spring.
In what is believed to be the first proposal of its kind in the country, Herefordshire would be taking the lead in managing all of its provision, including the ever-increasing cost of health care for the elderly.
It is not yet known how many jobs might be lost due to such efficiency savings.
Human resources, finance and legal services could be the first to be merged, followed later by sharing buildings and transport, with control radiating out from a new headquarters in Plough Lane.
Chris Bull, joint chief executive of Herefordshire Council and the Primary Care Trust, said that the idea had been under consideration for some time, but it was not just about cutting costs. “What we will do is reduce duplication and make sure people see the right member of staff at the right time,” he said. “This would ensure that there would be no doubling up of what goes on in the community, or in the GP practice, or in the hospital.”
“It would be very much about knitting things together so that they work as one.”
Unison regional representative Bill Bloxsome said there would be concern about jobs and pay grades.
These would need to be discussed and tackled through voluntary redundancies to keep impact to a minimum, he added.
