 The new organisation's budget will exceed �500m a year |
Nottingham's two biggest hospitals are to merge, despite contradictory comments by the health secretary. Patricia Hewitt told BBC News on Saturday that no decision had been made, but officials have confirmed the plans were approved last week.
The merger of the Queen's Medical Centre and the Nottingham City hospitals will create a trust with a combined budget of �500m.
The new combined hospitals trust will come into being on 1 April.
No explanation
Ms Hewitt told BBC News that she did not want to comment on the implications of the merger because it might prejudice the consultation process.
"It would be quite wrong for me to pre-empt the decision," she said.
But an official consultation by the Trent Strategic Health Authority ended on 1 December and the hospitals announced the approval of their merger plans on 11 January.
Ms Hewitt has not made any further comments on the merger since her interview on Saturday.
The hospitals will be known as Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Department of Health said it could not explain the contradictory comments.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
