IT’S involved a lot of behind-the-scenes work, but now a new era has dawned in local health care with the creation of a bigger health trust serving the people of Basingstoke and north Hampshire.

The formation of the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which officially launched on Monday, is the culmination of more than a year of hard work which has ended in the Basingstoke hospital foundation trust taking over the hospital trust that serves Winchester, Eastleigh and Andover.

The merger has cost very little in financial terms, according to chief executive Mary Edwards. She told The Gazette: “It has taken a lot of work by a lot of people with a lot of hours being put in, but that’s just a different way of working. In terms of financial outlay, costs have been kept to a minimum.”

She estimated that the acquisition of Winchester and Eastleigh Healthcare NHS Trust would save around £9million, both through a reduction in staff and the fact that where once two contracts were needed for hospital equipment and services, now only one will be required.

Between 60 and 70 of the 5,000 staff currently employed across Basingstoke, Winchester and Andover hospitals are expected to be made redundant as a result of the merger.

Mrs Edwards said that the affected staff, likely to be working in back office and administrative roles, would be told within around three months.

Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust now serves a population of 600,000 and will have an annual turnover of £300m.

Mrs Edwards said that there was still a lot of work to be done to complete the merger, with patient records being gradually brought together, a process that Mrs Edwards said “could not be rushed”.

New uniforms will be brought in across the Trust, with one set across the whole organisation.

They have been designed largely by staff themselves, following the formation of a working group.

The takeover was prompted by the Government’s requirement for all hospitals to become foundation trusts by 2013.

Bosses also hope that by working together, the organisation will be able to improve the quality of services offered across the various hospitals.

Mrs Edwards told The Gazette that ideas are being batted around across the three hospitals, including the creation of a new service for people with serious back problems, who currently have to travel to either London or Southampton for treatment.

Other ideas in the pipeline include the offering of more services to people within the community itself, and more treatment being offered through community hospitals.