A POSSIBLE merger of the South Buckinghamshire and Stoke Mandeville NHS trusts is on the cards following the appointment of a new director.

Dorothea Reid will be responsible for forging closer links between the two trusts and will produce a summary of options for change.

If proposals for the merger are backed by a project board, the plans will go to the Health Secretary, Alan Milburn, for approval with public consultation pencilled in for July.

The project board, chaired by Irene Short, chairman of the Buckinghamshire Health Authority, has had a first meeting at which its membership and terms of reference were agreed.

Ms Reid said: "This is about managerial change, which we are progressing at a time when the Government, through the NHS plan, is putting great emphasis on joint working between trusts.

"The relationship between Stoke Mandeville and South Buckinghamshire NHS trusts has been growing stronger year on year.

"Both boards think the time is right for the two trusts seriously to consider what advantages there might be in being one trust."