Cannock Hospital takeover date revealed

New Cross Hospital will take over Cannock Hospital on November 1, bosses have confirmed.

And it can be revealed that the trust which runs New Cross has taken on 534 new staff as part of its £30m takeover.

The vast majority of those staff are at Cannock and their contracts will be switched over on November 1.

They will remain working in the same hospital, but work for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust instead.

These staff comprise a full range of employees - nurses, doctors, HR staff and secretaries among others.

Cannock employees make up the vast bulk of the 534, with a small amount also taken on from Stafford Hospital.

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They will mostly be corporate staff, or those who work in the administrative sector.

All staff will transfer on their existing contracts and terms and conditions.

And Cannock Hospital will officially come under the control of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust on November 1.

The £30m project includes an upgrade of facilities in Cannock, such as improved operating theatres.

Shuttle buses will ferry Wolverhampton patients to the hospital.

What is not yet known is exactly which services and how many staff will transfer from New Cross to Cannock.

It has previously been stated that all non-emergency surgery will now be held at Cannock instead of New Cross.

But this week a breast cancer support group hit out at the plans and called for breast surgery to remain at the Wednesfield-based hospital.

A controversial consultation process asked people for their opinions on the plans is still ongoing.

It launched on July 18 and will continue to October 17.

Maxine Espley, director of planning and contracting for the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, said they were still keen to hear more feedback.

She added: "We have so far held three public meetings (over 100 people have attended these) and a drop-in session in the city centre.

"In addition we are using social media and getting the message to the Wolverhampton Clinical Commissioning Groups's 2,500 Twitter followers and the 34,000 followers on the city council's Facebook page.

"A consultation document has been prepared and distributed to GP practices, websites, patient groups and community venues.

"We are planning more communications over the coming weeks including a further public meeting which has been arranged for October 8."

Bus travel will be free for patients travelling between the hospitals.

It will stop at Wolverhampton Bus Station and also at stops along the way, although locations have not yet been revealed.

Wolverhampton MP Pat McFadden has contacted New Cross chief executive David Loughton asking for one of those stops to be in Bilston.