THE Trust responsible for running local community services and mental health care has renamed itself.

The Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust is, from November 2, known as the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust.

This is because the trust now has responsibility for mental health and learning disability services across the border in Herefordshire.

Sarah Dugan, chief executive at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, said: “We are really proud to be Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust and to be working with all our staff across both counties to provide the very best care we can to those who need us.

“For us this is much more than a new name; it is a key step in integrating our mental health and learning disability services in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. It was also very important for our patients, staff and stakeholders in Herefordshire that we had a name which both reflected the services they provide, and which developed a shared identity across the Trust.”

All service contact details will remain the same and patients will continue to access their services in the same way.

The Trust took over responsibility for Herefordshire’s mental health and learning disability services on April 1st from previous provider Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust. It means there is now one provider of mental health and learning disability services across the two counties.

This comes under the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) which brings together organisations across health and care from both counties to sustain and improve local care.

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust has run community hospitals, community nursing and therapy services, and mental health and learning disability care in Worcestershire since being launched in 2011.

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust runs mental health and learning disability services across both counties for people experiencing a range of mental health conditions, from more common issues such as stress and anxiety through its Healthy Minds teams, to its 24/7 urgent mental health helpline.