SOUTH Warwickshire Foundation Trust (SWFT) could soon go by a new name in a bid to include the whole county.
Trust chief executive Glen Burley plans to change the name to Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust if he gets the go-ahead from governors, staff and partner organisations.
He said: “There is still a feeling among some community staff that we are too hospital focused and also a strong view, particularly from our staff in North Warwickshire and Rugby, that we are too south focused.
“One thing that has potentially alienatied our non-South Warwickshire-based staff has been the trust name.
“The inclusion of ‘South’ in our name is misleading as we increasingly see the opportunity to join up health and social care across the county so this is not only confusing for staff, it is confusing for patients and our partner organisations.”
SWFT run a number of services across Warwickshire, including stop smoking services and social services reablement – helping frail and independent patients learn how to live safely at home.
But it is not the first time the subject of a name change has arisen.
SWFT – which runs hospitals in Warwick, Leamington, Stratford and Shipston – applied to partner-up with struggling George Eliot Hospital (GEH) last year.
The trust had hoped to change their name if the partnership happened.
But plans were scrapped after the Nuneaton-based hospital made improvements.
Mr Burley, who took over the running of SWFT back in 2006, said: “We have discussed a name change in the past but agreed the creation of a whole Warwickshire Foundation Trust through the addition of George Eliot Hospital would have been a better time to do so.
“While the future model for GEH remains uncertain, it now appears unlikely they will become a foundation trust in their own right.”
Plans for a name change will now go to the trust’s governors along with hospital staff, foundation trust members and partner organisations for feedback.
