The final stage of the long-held ambition to provide a Single Hospital Service for patients in the City of Manchester and Trafford has been successfully completed.

As of 1 April, North Manchester General Hospital has formally joined Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust. This follows on from a 12 month period during which time the trust has been responsible for the delivery of services at North Manchester General Hospital through a management agreement.

The first stage of creating a Single Hospital Service was the establishment of MFT through the merger of Central Manchester Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust in 2017. Extending the benefits of MFT and building on the existing expertise at NMGH will enable the provision of better, safer and more consistent care to the people of Manchester, Trafford and wider communities.

Sir Michael Deegan CBE, Group Chief Executive of MFT, said; “Today marks a significant milestone in our five-year journey and is the final step in creating a Single Hospital Service for the people of Manchester and Trafford.

“Welcoming NMGH into the MFT Group is a tremendous achievement, and I want to thank everyone who has worked so hard to deliver this ambitious plan while continuing to care for patients throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Our priority for today, as always, is to maintain patient safety by ensuring services at NMGH continue to run smoothly. There will be no immediate changes to the way services are provided, and patients will continue to receive care from the same staff in the same locations.”

North Manchester General Hospital was previously part of Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The NMGH redevelopment is one of 40 hospital rebuilding projects identified to receive funding under the government’s New Hospitals Programme for England.  It has already been allocated £60 million for site preparation work.