HOSPITAL bosses say there are no plans to move any services from Colchester to Ipswich as part of the upcoming merger - although changes cannot be ruled out in the future.

Some patients told a Local Health Matters meeting staged by the North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group in Colchester they feared the merger would force them to travel to Ipswich for treatment which they had previously had in Colchester.

Dr Barbara Buckley, joint medical director for clinical strategy at Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, said the new trust had no intention of moving services.

Dr Buckley said: “We know travel is a big issue for a lot of patients who use the hospital.

“It wouldn’t make sense to ask people to suddenly make the trip to Ipswich for services which they’ve been able to access in Colchester for so long.

“In fact, some services which are on offer at Colchester will also be made available in Clacton and Harwich.

“We want the merger to be a positive thing for our patients.”

“If it’s possible for us to provide services as part of the new trust which are only available in London - such as bone marrow transplants - then we will.”

Dr Buckley also said any future changes to services provided would only come about after significant consultation with the public.

She added the merger would make the new trust the biggest in East Anglia and that status would help the hospital retain highly-trained members of staff.

She said: “We don’t want to see the staff we train at our hospitals leaving once their training is over.

“Ten to 12 per cent of our staff come and go annually but we want to reduce that number and keep hold of them.

“Having a larger trust will also mean we can attract other highly-trained clinical staff.”

As part of the merger, which is on course to take place in July, the hospitals will receive a cash injection worth £70 million from the Government for buildings and equipment.

Following a survey, a name for the trust has also be settled on - the East Suffolk and North Essex Foundation NHS Trust.

Colchester General Hospital exited special measures in November last year.