Dear colleagues,

On October 15, colleagues were informed that, in collaboration with NHS England, we had established the next steps to advance the LAASP Stronger Together programme. This includes developing a Business Case that will clarify the long-term structure of the organisation.

A significant amount of work has been undertaken by colleagues from each of the LAASP Trusts to develop the Business Case, this work includes a robust options appraisal.

The initial review of the options considered all potential reconfiguration possibilities between five LAASP Trusts which totalled 173 options. Through a scoring criteria linked to the business case objectives 11 options were longlisted.

You can access the details of the business case objectives here. The key headings include clinical pathway improvement, estates, governance, workforce and finance.

From the 11 options four were put forward for further consideration. Shortlisted options range from Trusts remaining as individual statutory organisations, Group arrangements through to merger of all five organisations into a new entity.

The Business Case will be shared with each Board of Directors and the LAASP Joint Committee. The Boards of Directors and Joint Committee will review these options and will recommend a preferred course of action before submitting the Business Case to NHS England on 19 December.

This is very much the beginning of the Business Case process which will require NHSE England to confirm any final outcome and for the LAASP Trusts to then consider how to implement the outcome of the Business Case process.

Further updates will be shared with colleagues on the next stages of the Business Case and NHSE Assurance processes. We will also keep you informed about the wider work of the LAASP programme. Updates will cover our efforts to promote collaboration and integration, including activities from the Clinical Reference Group.

More details will be available in the upcoming LAASP Stronger Together Bulletin.

Best wishes,

Jan Ross, Chief Executive, The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust

Joan Spencer, Chief Executive, The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust

James Sumner, Group Chief Executive, NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group