Overview and strategy

Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH) serves residents across Halton and Warrington boroughs.

Services are provided at two hospital sites and more than 30 community hubs and facilities across our boroughs.

Warrington Hospital provides emergency care, general medicine, surgery, cardiac care, stroke care, cancer care, maternity, paediatrics, and support services like physiotherapy, pathology, and pharmacy.

Halton Hospital in Runcorn specialises in elective and diagnostic care. It includes the Captain Sir Tom Moore Building and Nightingale Building, offering services including general surgery, urology, cancer care, chemotherapy, and outpatient care. The site is also home to the Delamere Macmillan Unit, Halton Clinical Research Unit, and Runcorn Urgent Treatment Centre.

Both hospitals offer outpatient clinics and diagnostic services to ensure patients can access care close to home. 

The hospital sites are around 10 miles apart and are close to the north west motorway network. Read more about our hospital sites and community locations..

In addition to hospitals, community hubs and mobile facilities, we also offer virtual options to improve access to quality care and reduce health inequalities.

All our hospital sites are smoke free and smoking is not allowed on any part of the grounds or buildings.

Our workforce of nearly 5,000 comprises more than 80 nationalities.

We strive to be an equal, diverse and inclusive employer, which is recognised as a pioneer in its equality, diversity and inclusion work. We support a flexible first approach and welcome applications from those who like to work flexibly. The Trust is proud to have achieved numerous external accreditations and is working towards fully embedding the Anti-Racist Organisation Framework, recognising the importance of anti-racism in all that we do

Foundation trust 

In 2008 we were awarded foundation trust status. A foundation trust is an NHS organisation which gives greater opportunities for people, patients and staff who have a genuine interest in the Trust to have more of a say about the way in which services are provided. 

Foundation trust status is only awarded to hospitals who have shown they demonstrate the highest clinical standards, quality leadership and a great record of patient responsiveness and safety. 

As an NHS foundation trust we have a Council of Governors made up of elected public and staff governors and partner governors representing local organisations that we work closely with. A foundation trust invites people to become public members (service users, carers, local people) and staff members who have the opportunity to elect governors to the council and to be involved in the activities of the Trust.

Our Constitution sets out details of how we operate as a foundation trust including the Council of Governors and membership constitutencies.

Our Trust in numbers

In 2023-24 we:

• served a population of 330,000 across both Halton and Warrington boroughs
• employed around 5,000 staff, comprising 79 nationalities
• delivered 2,448 babies in hospital and in the community
• delivered 59,581 procedures and stays
• delivered 101,127 new outpatient appointments each year
• operated 741 assessment beds and trolleys across both sites
• provided 126,415 episodes of emergency care
• had an annual turnover of £365.1 million

Working with partners

The Trust is part of the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System which is known as NHS Cheshire and Merseyside. Within this context Warrington and Halton operate as place-based partnerships which aim to develop a plan to address the broader health, public health and social care needs of the local population and design the delivery of integrated services to address these.

These partnerships are known respectively as ‘Warrington Together’ and ‘One Halton’ and involve the NHS, local authorities, community and voluntary organisations plus local residents and people who use health and social care services.