FOLLOWING the recent coverage about the upcoming merger of Southend, Basildon and Mid Essex hospital trusts, I wanted to reassure readers that they will continue to receive the very best care at their local hospital.

Full A&E services, maternity, and all of the other departments you can expect at a general hospital will be totally unaffected by merger.

Your article didn’t make clear the difference between merger and the clinical reconfiguration that we are undertaking.

The merger is purely a legal process, officially bringing the three organisations into one so we are more efficient and more resilient.

The improvements we are making to clinical services – including creating centres of excellence for orthopaedics, vascular care and spinal surgery – are separate to the merger process. We know that they will improve care, cut waiting times and save lives.

They followed a public consultation, have been approved nationally, and would continue to be implemented regardless of whether we were a merged organisation or not.

Merging our three Trusts doesn’t mean we will then be able to make further changes to services without following all the normal consultation and approval processes.

CLARE PANNIKER

Chief Executive, Mid and South Essex Hospitals Group