Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is a

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

trust named after the ancient Oxleas Woods between Bexley and Greenwich.

Current status

Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS

Foundation Trust A foundation trust is a semi-autonomous organisational unit within the National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health and Social Care (and, until the abolition of SHAs in 2013, their local s ...

providing community health, mental health and learning disability services primarily to the London Boroughs of

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

and

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

. The trust provides additional specialist forensic psychiatric services to people from

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...

as well as its core areas and healthcare services to prisons in Kent. Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust headquarters are at Dartford and in-patient services are located at the campuses of Queen Mary's Hospital,

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of Bromley and Greenwich. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the ...

; Princess Royal University Hospital, Farnborough, Kent and Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

Woolwich Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained thr ...

. Forensic in-patient services are concentrated at the Bracton Centre in Dartford. Memorial Hospital is a hospital owned by Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust. Oxleas operates several facilities including inpatient services for elderly people. There is also a large community outreach service network so that people can live at home and be helped both in their own homes, and as outpatients at various locations where Oxleas staff help their patients.

Queen Mary's Hospital Sidcup

Oxleas took over the running of Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup on 1 October 2013 and is investing up to £30million to develop the facilities at the hospital. In 2012, the Special Administrator, Matthew Kershaw of the Department of Health, was requested by the Secretary of State for Health to investigate concerns that South London Healthcare NHS Trust was not a viable concern. After public consultation and much investigation, it was declared on 31 January 2013 that the South London Healthcare NHS Trust would be disbanded. This led to action in the High Court. There was much debate about whether this would improve health care in South London and questions have been asked in Parliament as to the wisdom of reorganising so many health trusts on account of one hospital trust being disbanded. Caroline Taylor has taken over as Special Administrator of South London Healthcare NHS Trust.

Estates

The trust established a partnership with

Morgan Sindall Morgan Sindall Group plc is a leading British Construction & Regeneration group, headquartered in London employing around 6,700 employees and operating in the public, regulated and private sectors. It reports through six divisions of Constructio ...

and Arcadis in July 2017 to manage its estate. It planned to redevelop land at four key sites in southeast London including 39.5 acres at Queen Mary’s Hospital and the re-provision of primary care at a site in Plumstead.

Council of Governors

Oxleas has a governing body, a Council of Governors. They hold quarterly council meetings and publish their agenda and minutes on their website for everyone to read. The latest details of the Governing Board meetings on the Oxleas NHS Foundation website is for September 2012. Richard Diment, elected governor in September 2012, had an official blog for the trust in which he has made comments upon the Mid-Staffordshire Inquiry Report

Controversies

In 2011 a murder was committed by a patient who had left one of the trust's facilities after being taken there by police. The family of the victim have launched legal proceedings. In June 2013 the trust faced a further legal challenge after the death by suicide of a patient at its Green Park House facility.

Performance

It was named by the Health Service Journal as the second best mental health trust to work for in 2015. At that time it had 3071 full time equivalent staff and a sickness absence rate of 4.38%. 74% of staff recommend it as a place for treatment and 74% recommended it as a place to work. The trust broke from the national pay agreement in August 2015 by giving a 1% pay rise to its senior non-clinical staff – those earning above £57,069 – in line with the award for the rest of the staff. In March 2016 the Trust was ranked second in the Learning from Mistakes League.

References

External links

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Queen Mary's Hospital
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxleas Nhs Foundation Trust NHS foundation trusts Health in London Health in Kent