New era for Queen Mary's Hospital

The plans are for Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust to take over ownership of the hospital on 1 October and invest significantly in the buildings. These plans have been approved by Oxleas governors and Monitor, the regulator of health services in England.

Oxleas already provides a range of services at the hospital and, in a unique arrangement, they plan to work alongside social care and a number of other local and established NHS trusts and invest up to £30million over the next five years to improve the facilities at the hospital whose future has been uncertain for more than a decade. Services would be provided by Oxleas, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Guy's and St Thomas NHS Foundation Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust* and Bexley Council.

Oxleas Medical Director Dr Ify Okocha said: "This is a great opportunity for Bexley. We, in Oxleas, are the right people to do this as we have a strong track record of delivering high quality NHS services from high quality facilities. This new model will enable us to work together to provide excellent services at Queen Mary's Hospital. For example we have plans to develop a brand new radiotherapy service which will be run by Guy's and St Thomas and prevent local people from needing to travel to central London or Kent to receive treatment."

Despite the planned changes, it will be business as usual at the hospital for people who use it regularly or have an appointment.

James Brokenshire, MP for Old Bexley and Sidcup said: "I am delighted. This opens a new chapter for Queen Mary's, providing sound foundations for existing services as well as important new facilities such as the radiotherapy centre enabling patients to be treated in Sidcup. After years of uncertainty, this secures the positive future for the hospital so many people have urged. I welcome the new opportunities Oxleas ownership will provide for high quality healthcare services for the benefit of Bexley residents."

The services at Queens Mary's Hospital:

• 24-hour unscheduled care, including an urgent care centre and GP out-of-hours service
• Older people's services
• Children's services, including the children's development centre and paediatric walk-in unit
• Specialist services, such as chemotherapy
• Community midwifery services, linked to the hospitals where women from Bexley give birth
• Outpatients services, such as general surgery, gynaecology and paediatrics
• Day surgery
• Diagnostics, including scans, ultrasound and x-ray
• Therapies, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy
• Inpatient mental health services for local patients
• Community and inpatient neuro-rehabilitation services