Publication scheme

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust) is a statutory body which came into existence on 1 April 1994 under The North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare National Health Service Trust (Establishment) Order 1993 No [2635], (the Establishment Order).

We provide inpatient and community mental health, social care, learning disability, substance misuse and primary care services to people predominantly living in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and in North Staffordshire. The Trust is one of the main providers of mental health, social care and learning disability services in the West Midlands.

We currently work from hospital, GP practice and community-based premises, operating from approximately 30 sites to approximately 464,000 people of all ages and diverse backgrounds in our core area of Stoke-on-Trent and across North Staffordshire. Our main site is Harplands Hospital, which opened in 2001 and provides the setting for most of our inpatient units. A number of our teams provide services across Staffordshire, the West Midlands and beyond.

We provide services to people with a wide range of mental health, substance misuse and learning disability and/or autism needs. Sometimes our service users need to spend time in hospital, but much more often we are able to provide care in community settings and in people’s own homes.

We also provide specialist mental health services such as child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS), substance misuse services and psychological therapies, plus a range of clinical and non-clinical services to support University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM).

Our Primary Care Directorate operates three practices, Moorcroft Medical Centre, based in Stoke-on-Trent, (Hanley and Bentilee), Holmcroft Surgery, situated in Stafford and Keele GP Surgery. The directorate serves a population of approximately twenty-five thousand people and now employs over 80 staff members. The Directorate further cements the pivotal role that the Trust has within the North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care System (ICS). In November 2021, we were proud to announce that our primary care leadership of Moorcroft Medical Centre and Moss Green Surgery had been rated as Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission – the highest leadership rating it is possible to achieve.

The Trust has a range of formal and informal mechanisms in place to facilitate effective working with key partners across the local economy. These include participation in partnership boards which bring together health, social care, independent and voluntary sector organisations in the City of Stoke-on-Trent and the county of Staffordshire.

We help drive improvements across the wider health and care economy, through our leadership roles in the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care System.

We employed an average of 1,609 employed WTE and 229 other staff during 2022/23. 2022/23 was another strong year for the Trust financial achieving a surplus for the year from continuing operations of £0.4m against income of £163.2m.

In March 2019, we were delighted and proud to announce that the Care Quality Commission had awarded the Trust an overall “Outstanding” rating – the highest overall rating they can award – making Combined Healthcare 1 of only 2 specialist mental health Trusts in England with an overall ‘Outstanding’ rating.

We look to involve our service users in everything we do, from providing feedback about the services we provide, to helping shape our priorities, to helping us find the right people to work for and with us. This work is co-ordinated by our Service User and Carer Council.

Our services have been delivered from within a locality structure with an Associate Director and Clinical Director formally responsible for each Directorates. These are supported across the trust by our Corporate Services.

Our four directorates are:

• Community Mental Health;
• Specialist Services;
• Acute Services and Urgent Care; and
• Primary Care.

The trust’s board of directors is made up of a non-executive Chair, Non-Executive Directors, the Chief Executive and Executive Directors.

You can see details of all our board members here.

For details of upcoming board meetings, click here.

For papers relating to previous board meetings from January 2014 onwards, click here.

Board responsibilities

The board is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction of the trust and for monitoring performance against its principal objectives. It decides on policy and ensures that the trust continues to provide high quality services. The board also ensures that the trust is financially sound and performing effectively within the local community.

Board meetings

Meetings of the board of directors are held in public and trust members, the general public and NHS staff are all welcome to attend.

Annual General Meetings

Our Annual General Meeting is the official event we hold each year, where we present our Annual Report and accounts, our financial review of the year and give our staff and stakeholders the chance to ask the board any questions they may have about our performance and activities over the year just past.