JOB losses are expected but services should not be affected by plans to merge two Hampshire hospital trusts, say health chiefs.

They spoke out after plans to merge Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust (WEHCT) which runs the Royal Hampshire County Hospital and Andover War Memorial Hospital with Basingstoke and North Hampshire NHS Foundation Trust (BNHFT) were officially announced yesterday.

The partnership will create a trust for north and mid-Hampshire serving more than 500,000 people.

The new organisation will have an annual budget of £300m and more than 5,000 doctors, nurses and healthcare staff.

Bosses expect to save money by combining departments such as payroll, human resources and finance. There will also be cutbacks in senior management.

Hospital bosses have pledged the merger should not change services although there could be more pooling of specialist areas.

This means Winchester and Basingstoke hospitals should each keep their maternity and accident and emergency departments.

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Dr Chris Gordon, acting chief executive of WEHCT, said: “As a doctor, I am pleased to say that this proposal has the strong support of clinicians at both trusts.

This is absolutely fundamental in the forming of a new, integrated organisation because it will ensure that the needs of our patients remain paramount.”

Dr Gordon said any future major changes to services – but not the merger – would have to go out for public consultation. The move has been prompted by Government plans for all hospitals to become foundation trusts by 2013. Foundation trusts have more managerial and financial freedom than NHS hospital trusts.

They are still subject to NHS standards, performance ratings and inspections but are independent of strategic health authorities.

Managers at WEHCT, which has been plagued by debt, said it would not make the grade alone but can by joining Basingstoke.

Basingstoke has been a foundation trust since 2006 and is rated “excellent” for financial management.

Caroline Villiers, regional organiser of Unison, said staff at Winchester and Andover had given the planned merger the thumbs-up.

She said: “It will give stability at last to staff at Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare Trust.

“We hope that any job losses will be kept to a minimum.”

Winchester and Chandler’s Ford MP Steve Brine said he backed the planned merger if it protected key local services for a district hospital, such as A&E and maternity services.