Somerset NHS Foundation Trust is a

NHS foundation trust An NHS foundation trust is a semi-autonomous organisational unit within the National Health Service (England), National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health and Social Care (and, until the a ...

providing services for

NHS England NHS England, formally the NHS Commissioning Board for England, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning si ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. It manages a number of hospitals providing

mental Mental may refer to: * of or relating to the mind Films * ''Mental'' (2012 film), an Australian comedy-drama film starring Toni Collette * ''Mental'' (2016 film), a Bangladeshi romantic-action film starring Shakib Khan * ''Mental'', a 2008 docu ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

and acute

hospital A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized Medical Science, health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically ...

care across the whole county. In April 2023, the trust merged with Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to form a single trust covering the whole county.

History

The trust was formed from the merger of Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and

Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust was an NHS trust which managed Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton, Somerset, England. It merged with Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to form Somerset NHS Foundation Trust in 2020. History O ...

on 1 April 2020. In September 2021 it opened a new diagnostic centre on the outskirts of

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

near the M5, operating in partnership with

Rutherford Health Rutherford Health was a private oncology provider founded by Mike Moran and Karol Sikora in 2015, with investment from Neil Woodford and the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund, to develop proton therapy facilities in the United Kingdom and elsewhe ...

. This will provide

CT scan A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly called computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or ...

magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to generate pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes inside the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and ...

, X-rays, ultrasound and other imaging services. The trust pay a tariff price for activity and is reimbursed for the use of its staff. Rutherford Health went into liquidation in June 2022 and a new contract was made with

Alliance Medical Alliance Medical is a radiology services company founded in 1989 by Robert Waley-Cohen operating across Europe. In 2010 Lloyds Bank, Commerzbank and M&G Investments acquired 85% of the company in a debt-for-equity swap. A consortium, called the ...

. In November 2020 it was reported to be planning a merger with Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, which would create England’s first provider of primary, acute, community and mental health care services. The merger took place on 1 April 2023. On 13 May 2025, it was announced by the Trust that the special care baby unit and inpatient maternity services at

Yeovil Hospital Yeovil Hospital, previously known as Yeovil District Hospital, is a hospital in Yeovil, Somerset, England, managed by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital provides acute care for a population of about 180,000, people living in South Some ...

would be suspended for 6 months after a warning notice was issued by the CQC. As of 19 May 2025, expectant mothers will have to travel to either

Musgrove Park Hospital Musgrove Park Hospital is a large NHS hospital located in Taunton, Somerset, England, run by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. Originally a US Army General Hospital during the Second World War, it became an NHS hospital in 1951. History The 67th ...

Dorset County Hospital Dorset County Hospital is a district general hospital in the town of Dorchester, Dorset, England. The hospital is managed by Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. History Plans were developed in the early 1980s for a modern facility t ...

in Dorchester or

Royal United Hospital The Royal United Hospital (RUH) is a major acute-care district general hospital in the Weston suburb of Bath, England, which lies approximately west of the city centre. The hospital has 565 beds and occupies a site. It is the area's major acci ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

to receive maternity care.

Hospitals

The trust manages

, mental health units in

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. The town had a population of 41,276 at the 2021 census. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies along both sid ...

and Wells, and 12

community hospital A community hospital can be purely a nominal designation or have a more specific meaning. When specific, it refers to a hospital that is accessible to the general public and provides a general or specific medical care which is usually short-term, i ...

References

External links

* {{Official website
Somerset NHS Foundation Trust
on the NHS website
Inspection reports
from the

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care providers in England. It ...

NHS foundation trusts Health in Somerset

History

Hospitals

See also

References

External links